National Treasure: Page 47
by BananaPieThiefX
Summary: When Ben tries to help the president find his family's lost treasure, Abigail and Riley feel slightly ignored. When they're kidnapped by a revenge seeking Ian, will Ben finally realize what matters most? Trailer and a story. Now Complete!
1. Trailer

**AN: **This isn't specifically for the trailer contest, but if whoever's in charge want's to judge it, that's fine with me... The next chapters will be a story in script form, so.. check back later, I hope to update soon!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own National Treasure, or its characters...

* * *

_Music begins playing. Walt Disney logo appears. Jerry Bruckheimer logo appears._

**There comes a time, when you have to make choices. For Ben Gates, that time is now.**

**Ben:**_ (staring at a picture of page 47 on his computer)_ There has to be a clue. (_glances at a picture of the trio next to the computer) _

_Shot of a shipwreck. Ben and Riley are scuba diving inside it. A chest opens, Ben and Riley look at each other._

**The choice between treasure…**

**Riley: **You never rest, do you?

**Ben:** Not really.

**Riley: **_(smiling)_So when do we leave?

**And the most important people in his life…**

_Abigail is standing in the doorway, Ben is inside the house, Abigail shaking her head_

**Abigail:**_ (sadly) _There are more important things than treasure, Ben. _(Both look down)_

_(Ben and Riley standing on a sidewalk)_

**Ben:** _(walking off) _I think there one more treasure hunt left in us.

**Riley: **_(follows) _Is this about that page 47?

**But sometimes, things get complicated.**

**Newscaster: **There has been a mass breakout from Washington's maximum security prison. At least five criminal's have escaped custody and are now on the loose, the names of these criminals have yet to be released, however this picture… (_gasp in background)_

_(T.V cuts off; Riley is seen dialing his phone)  
_

**Ben: **_(answering phone) _Riley?

**Riley: **Ben! Ben, he's escaped he's back! Ben he's… _(crash, then static coming from other end)_

**Ben: **_(urgently) _Riley! RILEY! _(begins to dial another number)_

**Abigail's Voice: **Hello, this is Abigail speaking I cant make it to the phone right now…

**Ben: **_(reading text message out loud)_ You're on your own, Gates. Great, just great!

_(Riley gets out of his Ferrari after he's a few feet away it explodes behind him)_

**Riley: **Oh. My. God.

_(Ian is facing Riley in a dark room, Riley eyes the gun pointed at him)_

**Riley: **What are you doing Ian?

**Ian: **Someone's going to get hurt Riley. It's nothing personal.

_(Blackout, rapid gunshots)_

_(Fade back in, Ben is looking down, obviously upset)_

**Ben: **The debt that all men pay…

_(Cut to Riley being pushed into a room. Door slams. Riley sits down)_

**Riley:** Why does it _always_ happen to me?

_(Riley and Abigail being held by Ian's henchmen)_

**Riley: **_(eyes closed) _Find a happy place… find a happy place…

**Ian:** Did you miss me, Ben?

**Riley: **He can't do that! _(looks at Ben)_ Can he do that?

_(Ben looking over an old map. He looks up at his mom and dad)_

**Ben: **The legendary treasure of Captain Kidd. To say he buried it would be an understatement…

_(Various action scenes, including another car chase; Riley falling; Ben punching Ian; Unconscious Abigail; Ben, Ian, Riley, Patrick and henchmen in a dark cave; and Ian and his henchmen chasing Abigail through the house)_

_(Blackout)_

**National Treasure: Page 47**

_(Release date, credits, etc, etc…) _


	2. I Love Weddings

**AN: **I was originally going to to this story as a script, but I figured I'd rather write a story. It will be divided into chapters the same way I probably would've didvided the script, so some chapters might be a little short. Enjoy!!!

**Discliamer:** I don't own National treasure, but if I did, this would be the third movie, so I hope you like it!

* * *

"A toast to the happy couple!" called Riley. 

"But happy for how long?" muttered Ben raising his glass.

"I'm sure your parents will stay together. See how happy they look?" Abigail reassured him. "And it's not as if marriage were a bad thing." She placed her hand on his, and Riley saw the golden ring clearly.

"Rubbing it in again," he muttered pointedly to Ben. The toast was completed and everyone drank. "This is really good champagne," observed Riley. The others must have agreed because they had already gone to get more. Riley sighed. He really needed to get a girl…

Ben and Abigail came back. Riley looked at them as they sat down, laughing about something. "What?" he asked.

"Oh, it's nothing," Abigail said, still chuckling.

"Fine then," sulked Riley drinking more of his champagne. "So what are we going to do now?" he asked. All he got was a blank stare from Ben and Abigail. "You know, what now? Atlantis?"

"You mean treasure," Abigail's voice radiated disapproval. She was still upset about their last treasure hunt, which had involved a casualty. "Couldn't we just go see a movie?" she asked desperately.

"Abigail's right," sighed Ben. "Lets see a movie tomorrow afternoon. We can worry about treasure later."

"Can I pick?" asked Riley, immediately optimistic again. But he was a little suspicious of Ben; he had to be up to something, giving up talk of treasure that easily.

"Why not?" offered Ben. At least the movie would be funny. Plus he figured he owed it to his best friend. After all, he _had _been spending a lot of time with Abigail lately.

"Do we really have to let him pick?" groaned Abigail in mock horror. Ben and Riley laughed. It seemed like things were getting back to normal. Or at least as normal as possible. Abigail stood up and looked at Riley. "Do you mind if Ben and I," she broke off and gestured towards the dance floor.

"Yeah, go ahead, have fun," Riley said. "I'll be here," he added. Right after they left, a woman came up to him. He recognized her as the lady who had told him his Ferrari was being towed. "Or not…" he said to himself.

"Riley Poole?" he nodded. "Not Ben gates?" He shook his head. "Want to dance anyway?" Riley stood up, amazed, stunned and shocked. Did he hear that right?

"I… but, really, and, I can't..." he paused, took a deep breath and finally managed a weak, "Who, me?" She smiled and nodded. "O- okay," Riley agreed. The small sensible part of him was screaming at him. 'What on Earth are you _doing_? You can't dance! Do you _want_ to make a fool of yourself???!?' But Riley ignored it. As if in a trance, he let the girl lead him onto the dance floor.

"So, I read your book," she said as Riley spun her around.

"You did? Really?" he smiled and they danced across the floor.

"Yeah, I loved it!" She spun away from Riley then back again. He caught her.

"You know, I've never danced before today," he said thinking out loud.

She laughed. Riley's face cracked into a grin. He already loved her laugh. "Me neither," she admitted. "By the way, did you ever get your car back?"

"I did actually. By the way did you know that the coolest thing in the world is a guy with a red Ferrari?" It was a bad attempt, but a guy has to try.

To Riley's surprise she smiled. "I know," she said. And they continued dancing until Ben and Abigail came and literally dragged him away.

"The reception is _over_ Riley! You're the only ones left, we have to leave," urged Ben.

"I'll call you!" shouted Riley across the room as his friends forcibly removed him from the building.

"You couldn't have waited until I was done?"

"You two had been dancing for three and a half hours! Wasn't that enough?" asked Abigail disbelievingly. The three were on their way back from the wedding in Ben's new car (not as cool as Riley's of course) and Riley was still complaining about his interrupted dance.

"I didn't know you knew how to dance," said Ben.

"I didn't. I just copied what I saw in movies," Riley grinned. "Apparently it works." The car pulled up in front of Riley's apartment building. "So see you tomorrow?" he asked.

"Yeah, pick us up around four and we'll head to the theatre," Ben confirmed.

Riley got out of the car. He opened the door to his apartment, and immediately crashed onto the couch. "I love weddings," Riley sighed happily. Maybe he would end up with a girl after all. If he survived the next treasure hunt. "I just wish I knew what Ben was up too," he muttered.

* * *

**AN:** I bet you thought this was Ben and Abigail's wedding, didn't you? I hope I kept everyone in character and that you review! Suggesstions and constructive critisism are welcome. 


	3. A walk in the park

**AN:** Sorry this chapter is so short, but I wanted to get two chapters up in one day and there wasn't much I could do with this without going overboard and making it really boring. I figured Ben and Riley needed this chapter, and I think it has some good content so contine to read and Review!!

**Disclaimer:** Do I _really _need one? I don't own them, I wish I did, enough said.

* * *

Riley and Ben walked down the sidewalk in the park. "So what was so completely important you couldn't talk about it in front of Abigail?" asked Riley. He sat down on a bench and waited for Ben to answer. 

"I think there's at least one more treasure hunt left in us, don't you?" he said as he walked away. Riley jumped up and got in front of him, walking backwards.

"This is about page 47 isn't it?" he asked. "I knew you were up to something!"

"You sound just like Abi," Ben muttered. "Look out!"

Riley stopped and turned around, he jumped backwards, startled by the tree he had nearly crashed into. "How do you expect to find this thing anyway? You know how Abigail's been about treasure hunting now. She'll never let you go voluntarily," he stopped, Ben looked up. "She's scared of losing you. We all are."

"I know," Ben sighed. "Riley, I have a lead. A big one. The president just called, he wants me to meet him at three thirty. He wants to talk about the treasure."

"Three thirty. Treasure. What about our movie Ben?" Riley seemed really upset.

"Riley I can't blow off the President of the United States!" Ben said angrily.

"Well can you _at least_ tell me what's on page 47?"  
"I'm sorry Riley. That's between me and the President."

"Fine, go, go talk about it with your new best friend! That's all you've been saying Ben. Mr. President this, Mr. President that, Page 47, but you can't even tell me and Abigail what's on it!" Riley shouted. He didn't mean to get so mad at his best friend, but he was so sick of the "sidekick" treatment from everyone, and now it was coming from Ben himself! Riley stalked off past Ben back to his car. He felt a hand grab his arm.

Ben's voice softened. "Riley, I'm sorry, okay. That's why I'm going to meet with the president today, to ask if I can tell you and Abigail. Otherwise I'd have told him no, okay? I'm sorry. You know I couldn't find treasure without you."

Riley smiled "I'm sorry too. I just, don't like to feel left out."

"Hey if it were me, I would've reacted the same way" he let his friend go.

"Have fun with Abigail alright. Don't let her pick the movie no matter what she says, you'll regret it."

"Have fun with the President," Riley said. "By the way are those creepy black suit guys going to follow you around the whole time?"

"Probably," Ben guessed. "Why?"

"I'm glad I'm not going. Those guys are weird."

Ben laughed. "Riley, you're the best friend I could ever have. Have I ever told you that?"

"No Ben, but I'm really glad you just did," Riley smiled. "You should go, it's around three, and you can't be late for the president and his black suited creeps."

"Secret service agents."

"No, aliens," Riley corrected him. The younger man looked so serious that Ben burst out laughing again. Riley had to be the perfect person to write a book about conspiracy theories.

"You're the best, Riley," he repeated.

"Good luck," Riley walked over to his car and climbed in. "You really need to get a car like this Ben. Abigail would never fight with you again," he drove off, leaving his best friend smiling widely on the sidewalk.

"Now down to business," Ben said to himself, climbing into his own, slightly less impressive car. "White House here I come!"

* * *

**AN: **Riley sure likes his aliens...But don't we all?

Remember to press the pretty Review button!


	4. Sequels and Secrets

**AN:** A special thanks to M**aster of toast,** who named Riley's girlfriend!!

-The riddle in this chapter isn't that great. Sorry, everyone, but I'm not very good at riddle writing...

I'm sure by now you are all very impatient for some kind of mortal Ian-related danger to befall Riley and/or Abigail. It WILL happen, but you have to wait a few chapters! Ian can't know about the treasure until Ben goes public with it, now can he? I promise I'll bring Ian in as soon as I can, so be patient!!!

**Disclaimer:** If I owned these guys, I'd be hunting for treasure with them, not writing this!!

* * *

"He blew us off to talk to the President." 

"Abigail, it's the _President,_ you know, the one in charge of the FBI. The same FBI that would probably love another excuse to arrest us?" Riley countered. "We can still see a movie, I'm sure Ben can come another day." This was so much like role-playing the park scene, except this time he was Ben.

"I just wish I hadn't already bought our tickets. Now we have three tickets for two people," Abigail complained.

"Oh, like money is ever a problem for you or Ben," Riley pointed out. "It would be even less of a problem if _I _had chosen the finder's fee," he stopped in mid-rant. "Wait, you can buy movie tickets ahead of time?"

"Yeah. On guys advertised by the wierd paper bag puppet people?"

"Yeah, them."

Suddenly Riley grinned. "So you don't mind if I invite someone for the third ticket do you?"

"I guess not. Who'd you have in mind?" Riley didn't answer, however. He was busy dialing his cell phone.

"Want to go to a movie? Pirates of the Caribbean. Okay. Pick you up in the Ferrari in 15 minutes? Sounds great! Bye!" Riley got off the phone looking very pleased with himself.

"Who was that?" asked Abigail, even though she figured she knew already.

Riley walked out of the house and jumped into his car. Abigail rolled her eyes.

"You'll see," he said. Riley put on his sunglasses, backed out of the driveway, and sped off.

-----------------------------------------

At around fifteen minutes to four, Riley pulled up in front of the theatre. In the front seat, next to him, was the girl from the wedding. "Abigail, meet Sabrina Smith." She smiled at Abigail

"You must be Abigail Gates."

"Yeah."

"It's nice to meet you. Riley's told me so much about your adventures." She said brightly.

Abigail looked at the two of them standing there and sighed. It could be a long movie. 'Now I know how Riley usually feels…' she thought. "So, shall we go?" she asked. "The movie starts in ten minutes." Abigail led the way into the theatre and Riley and Sabrina followed, holding hands. "Well this should at least be interesting," muttered Abigail. She was curious to see how Riley could handle a girl. She would regret her curiosity later.

"What was that?" asked Riley

"Nothing," Abigail said innocently. "Nothing at all."

------------------------------------------------

"Ben Gates is here to see you sir," announced the man. He was standard secret service, complete with black suit, sunglasses and headset.

"Let him in," ordered the President. The door opened and, for the second time in his life, Ben Gates found himself in the oval office.

"Mr. President."

"Please, call me Kevin," he said.

"Er… okay," said Ben. He obviously didn't feel comfortable calling the President by his first name. "Do you have the book, sir?"

"Right here Ben," the president opened the book to page 47. The page was exactly the same as it had been the last time Ben had seen it. A very old scrap of paper taped to the page. The title was written centered at the top. Following it was a riddle in Spanish, and below it, what the president had added. A rough translation in English.

Isla de la Fortuna

La clave de la Isla ocultos aquí  
En lo que mi padre tiene rival tan querido  
El año en que las velas, es la clave encontrará,  
Para el secreto escondido en sus partes.  
Este Queen's Revenge, una cosa mortal,  
La pista marcada por un anillo de hierro.

-W.K Jr.

Island of Fortune

The key to the Island hidden here

In what my father's rival holds so dear

The year it sails is the key you'll find,

To the secret hidden in its sides.

This Queen's Revenge, a deadly thing,

The clue marked by an iron ring.

- William Kidd Jr.

"Why was it written in Spanish?" asked Ben, reading and re-reading the page. "Kidd was English."

"To keep the English from finding the treasure is my guess," the president said. "The English wanted nothing to do with the Spanish, and they especially wouldn't speak their language."

"That makes sense." Ben looked up. "Do you mind if I take this, so me and my friends can have a look at it?"

"Your friends?"

"Mr. President, Kevin, sir, I can't find the treasure without Abigail and Riley's help."

"I understand perfectly," the president smiled. "I appreciate your help, Gates. Now, we have time to look at this here for a while, before you show it to your friends, if you don't mind."

"They're at a movie anyway," agreed Ben, and the two men leaned over the page.

---------------------------------------------

"That's the _last _time I let you pick the movie, Riley Poole!" exclaimed Abigail as they left the theatre. "Disney sequels are horrible! You can't just kill half the characters in a movie!"

"I really liked it," said Sabrina.

"That's because you weren't watching it," argued Abigail. "You were kissing Riley the whole time!" The man in question turned the shade of his car parked outside the building.

"I… uh, I better take you home Sabrina," he stammered with what little dignity he had left.

"Oh, yeah," she agreed and they walked out to the car. Riley turned up the radio. His favorite song came on and he began to sing, terribly off-key and not knowing half the words.

Sabrina tried hard not to cringe. "Uh, Riley?" she said timidly.

He stopped in mid-verse. "What?"

"If you value your life, _please _stop singing," she begged.

"Oh, right, sorry," he turned red again; he'd forgotten how bad a singer he was. They reached Sabrina's house. "This is your place," he said needlessly.

"You're a really sweet guy, Riley," she said, and kissed him on the cheek. Riley nearly fainted in the car right then, but he managed to smile and wave good-bye to his girlfriend.

"That'll show Ben," he said under his breath. He couldn't wait to tell his best friend about this.

* * *

**AN:** Sabrina and Riley sittin' in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G... And to my reviewers, thank you and a few responses... 

**Miss Pookamong**a: I'm glad you liked Riley's lines! I'm really making an effort to keep him in character, because the crazed Riley-fans would kill me if I didn't... -gulp-

**Miss Hermionie Jane Granger: **Lol, loved your comment, I figured it would be better if Riley didn't make a fool of himself because I think he deserves a girl. Actually, that dancing thing was just an entirely random way to fill up the page...

**Master of toast:** Jealous of Sabrina much? ;)

**NC17 Life: **Thank you soooo much for all your reviews!!


	5. Here We Go Again

**AN: **Thank you, to **Rose of Hope** for your interesting suggestion! It might be useful for having Sabrina stay in the story.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything you reconize, but I do own Riley's sensible side! (Ch. 1) MUHAHAHAHA!!!

* * *

Island of Fortune

The key to the Island hidden here

In what my father's rival holds so dear

The year it sails is the key you'll find,

To the secret hidden in its sides.

This Queen's Revenge, a deadly thing,

The clue marked by an iron ring.

- William Kidd Jr.

Three people leaned over the table in Ben and Abigail's mansion. "The Island of Fortune. Like, as in money, fortune? I so get to pick finder's fee this time," Riley Poole said as he read the riddle for the tenth time. Ben rolled his eyes exaggeratedly. "I saw that," his friend muttered. "You know, I could get myself a nice house if I had more than one stinking..."

"The president picks the finder's fee, Riley. The entire treasure belongs to his family," interrupted Ben.

"An all this time we never knew he was descended from a pirate," Riley said this as if it were the coolest thing in the world to have pirate ancestors.

"Yeah, but he'd like to have his treasure back, so we need to get to work on this."

"Aye, aye Captain!" Riley attempted a joke but nobody laughed.

"This Queen's Revenge, a deadly thing," Ben murmured. "Queen's Revenge, Matleck, Silence, Island, Kidd,"

"I'm guessing that's not the clue," observed Riley, "so what do these random words mean?"

"They're all capitalized in the various clues we've come across," said Ben

"Meaning?"

"They're all names." The two men looked up. Abigail had spoken for the first time since seeing the book in Ben's hand as he arrived at the house. They had been looking at it for three hours, since seven that evening. Ben nodded.

"Oh." Riley re-read it again, he had to figure out part of the riddle to shut those know-it-alls up. "How about we start at the beginning," he suggested. "First line's obvious, second line, his father's rival? This is Kidd's son, so his father was a pirate. Now, what were the worst rivals a pirate would probably have?"

"The Navy?" asked Ben.

Riley shook his head. "Other pirates. They were always fighting, and they competed for gold. Rivals. Now, the most famous pirate other than Kidd is probably?" Ben and Abigail just stared. They knew more about American history than a bunch of pirate legends, and Riley was enjoying every minute of it. "Blackbeard," he answered his own question.

"Of course!" exclaimed Abigail.

"Riley you're probably right," marveled Ben.

"Again."

"How do you know all this?"

Riley shrugged one shoulder. "T.V," he said as if it should've been obvious Abigail shot him a strange look. "And moves," He added.

Ben shook his head. "Riley, you're a genius!"

"I know," he said. "If I grab a camera, will you repeat that for me?"

"No."

"Way to be modest," commented Abigail.

"Now what does a pirate hold almost as dear as treasure?" asked Riley.

Ben knew the answer to this one. Before Riley could get in another comment he spoke up. "His ship."

"Right," muttered Riley in defeat.

"This Queen's Revenge," Abigail said. "Blackbeard's ship was the Queen Anne's Revenge! The secret hidden in its sides! The next clue is hidden inside the Queen Anne's Revenge, marked by and iron ring!"

"One problem, wouldn't it have I don't know, disintegrated or something by now?" Riley asked.

"We can always check, now can't we? The Queen Anne's Revenge sank right off the coast of North Carolina," announced Ben.

"You never rest, do you?" Riley questioned in amazement.

"Not really," was Ben's reply.

The younger man grinned. "So when do we leave?"

"Tomorrow," he replied. Abigail rolled her eyes.

"Here we go again!" she murmured.

---------------------------------

Three days later they were on a boat off the coast of North Carolina, over the site of the shipwreck.

"Ben?" asked Riley.

"Yeah?"

"Is this illegal?"

"Riley, we're helping the President of the United States find his pirate ancestor's long lost treasure. I think we have diplomatic immunity," Ben said as he raised the scuba diver's flag.

"There's only two suits," noted Abigail. "And two oxygen tanks, and two…" she stopped in sudden realization. "You are _not_ leaving me behind!" she shouted at Riley and Ben as they came up from the lower deck, ready to dive, and even though Riley looked about to collapse under the weight of the equipment, he was grinning.

"Are you SCUBA certified?" asked Ben, trying to hide a smirk.

"Wha… no," she admitted.

"Good bye," Riley waved and the two disappeared over the edge of the boat and into the ocean.

* * *

**AN:** Poor Abigail, she doesn't get to risk her life scuba diving a dangerous shipwreck!

Yes, I did research, and I know Kidd died before Blackbeard started pirating, but its a lot more fun to pretend they were around at the same time, isn't it?


	6. The Queen's Revenge

**AN: **I had fun writing the middle of this chapter, and I'm sure you'll find out why, but you have to read!

**Disclaimer:** -sigh- You all know it by heart, I'm sure.

* * *

It was Riley's first major dive. He shook, not because of the cold water. At only about twenty or thirty feet that was kept out easily. He shook with excitement. He could feel that this was going to be another adventure, it was becoming almost like an instinct now that he'd had so many. The shipwreck rose out in front of the two men and to Riley it was one of the coolest moments of his life. He started to comment on how cool it was, and then suddenly remembered he couldn't talk underwater. He had learned that the hard way in his first diving class, when he had started talking to his diving partner and nearly drowned. Instead he gestured towards the ship and gave Ben a huge grin and thumbs up.

Ben smiled back, full of anticipation. This was the moment he'd spent the past three days planning. It was time to get the next clue. They moved forward into the body of the ship. It wasn't nearly as grand as it once was, nearly three hundred years of salt and bacteria having eaten away at the wood. The hold of the ship. This was it. The big moment. A chest sat alone and forgotten in the corner. Dangling from the front was a large iron ring. The chest was dented in several places. Someone had obviously tried and failed to open it sometime in the past. Ben stared at it. He considered for a moment, thinking back to the riddle. 'The year it sails is the key you'll find' Ben saw a four digit lock on the back of the chest. Riley was obviously thinking the same thing. He signaled wildly until he caught Ben's attention. Then he held up one finger. Ben flipped the first dial to one. Seven fingers. One again. And now eight. Riley had never been wrong about pirates before, and Ben trusted him now. He spun the last dial and the chest flew open automatically.

There was a metal tube inside, buried under a bunch of old pieces of junk. Ben removed it and waved it at Riley. They high exchanged enthusiastic smiles. All was well. Then Riley's eyes grew wide. He motioned for Ben to turn around. Ben did, slowly, dreading what he would see. He was right to do so. Thirty feet underwater, in the wreck of a pirate ship, Benjamin Franklin Gates found himself face to face with a shark. He struggled to pick up the chest, but couldn't lift it. 'Heavy chest for such a small clue' he thought. Riley lifted the other end and they swung it against the shark's nose. It was a wrong move. The shark's nose started leaking blood. They had about five minutes before a feeding frenzy arrived, maybe less. Without even glancing at each other, Ben and Riley took off out of the ship. They had the clue, that was all that mattered, right? About ten feet from the surface, the men saw a pack of sharks heading for the ship where they had just been. Riley shivered again, this time with fear. It had been another close call, just another part of treasure hunting. When they reached the ship, Abigail was waiting for them, still looking very annoyed.

"The president called," she said. "He offered to fly us home in Air Force One. You guys in?"

"Air Force One," Riley said, optimistic again. "Sweet ride!"

"We should get back to shore then, he's on his way from Washington right now. Did you get the clue?"

"Yeah, we got it," assured Ben. He decided not to mention the shark; Abigail would never let them hear the end of it if he did. And so they turned around and headed towards shore, unaware that the publication of their latest adventure was already in Washington DC, being read by someone who didn't find it very impressive at all.

-----------------------------------------

Ian Howe sat in his cell and scanned the headlines of the newspaper. One caught his eye. 'Famous Treasure Hunter Gates at it Again!' Ian read the article aloud to his cellmates, his former henchmen and a few others who were interested in treasure hunting. There were five, including Ian himself. "Famous treasure hunters Ben and Abigail Gates," he began, remembering the story about their wedding a few months ago, "and known colleague Riley Poole, have been rumored to be after the legendary treasure of Captain William Kidd, led by a clue on the pages of the secret book of the President of the United States." He stopped there. "Gentlemen," he said maliciously. "I believe our time has come. We may finally have the chance to get revenge on Gates, and claim some treasure for ourselves, enough to make it fairly well in any country we wished, under whatever names we should choose. Now, who's with me?" Everyone looked at one another and smiled. So did Ian. "This isn't over, Gates," he muttered. "Not even close."

------------------------------------------

"Thank you sir!" cried Ben as he stepped off of the president's plane. Abigail bobbed her head in agreement while Riley complimented that the plane was the "sweetest ride ever".

The president thanked them graciously.

"It's the least I can do for you all. After all your help, I feel I should repay you in some way."

"Doesn't bode well for the finders fee," muttered Riley. Ben elbowed him, but the President must not have heard.

"Good luck with the rest of the clues," he said cheerfully. "I hope you solve them soon!"

Ben smiled knowingly. "With my friends around, sir, it'll be done in no time." Ben had no idea how much he'd be thinking about those same words not to long from that moment. And then, much more than the president's treasure would be at stake.

* * *

**AN: **I don't know if there really are sharks off the coast of N.C, but it's not really National Treasure without peril, and they haven't exactly had any yet. But their happiness won't last long -cough- forshadowing -cough-.


	7. He's Back!

**AN: **Ian's back!!! Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **Don't own anything but the plot.

* * *

Riley sat in his usual position on his couch watching TV and surfing the internet at the same time. He had a half empty tub of ice cream and a coke sitting on the small coffee table. He read a paragraph of the Star Wars fan fiction and then switched temporarily to the TV. Riley flipped mindlessly through the channels. "Boring, nope, no, nothing," he muttered pressing the buttons. "900 channels and only fifty good ones. This stinks," he complained. This was so boring. He hadn't hacked into anything in over two months, and was feeling like doing something minor just for the fun of it. Okay he really should've been working on the latest riddle, but it was a bunch of random letters, and he didn't have a copy of it. Only Ben did. Ben liked figuring out those clues more anyway. Riley stopped on the news.

"And we'll be right back with our top story from Washington, right after these messages." Great, commercials. Riley sighed and picked up the tub of ice cream.

"I wonder what the top story is. Probably some shoplifter or dead celebrity or something," he said aloud to no one. "I hope Ben finishes decoding that clue soon," muttered Riley. "He hasn't called in three days."

At this exact moment, Ben was being told off by Abigail. He had been out the door on his way to the Library of Congress where he could work in peace. She had stopped him in the doorway. "Ben is this about the treasure?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm going to work on it in the Library of Congress. You want to come?"

"Ben, all this treasure hunting just gets people hurt. Riley offered to stay behind in that cave more than once, and you nearly drowned!" she protested.

"No one's going to get hurt this time," he promised.

"You don't know that. I have the feeling I got right before Ian got the declaration, and before Riley almost got himself shot, and before we fell onto the tilting platform thing. Something doesn't feel right Ben. And you should start to realize that there are more important things in life than treasure." Upon completing this sentence she glanced down. Ben stared straight at the ground.

"This'll probably be the last one, okay?" he said.

"I keep worrying you won't have a choice in it Ben. But if you think it's the right thing, then go," she said defeated.

Ben walked past her and out to his car. He was feeling guilty about leaving Abigail at the house, but he couldn't tell why. An instinct told him he ought to call Riley soon. The man was probably getting so lonely he was pigging out on sweets. But then, he'd do that anyway. He was halfway to the Library when he got the call.

Riley stared at the computer screen. "Okay, Luke would never do that," he vented. Suddenly the News Report came back on.

"And now we're back, with our top story. Live from Washington DC, here's reporter Mike North, so Mike, what can you say about this?"

"Well, there has been a mass breakout from Washington's maximum security prison as of yesterday afternoon. At least five criminals have escaped custody and are now on the loose, the names of these criminals have yet to be released, however this picture…" a picture flashed up on the screen. Riley gasped and quickly muted the TV. He scooped up his house phone, which was next to the coke and dialed a number he had long ago memorized. He could hear the ringing in the background.

"C'mon Ben, pick up, pick up," he pleaded.

Ben grabbed his phone and saw that the call was from Riley's apartment. He flipped it open. "Riley?"

"Oh thank God! Ben, Iansoutofjailandprobablywantstokillyouforgettinghimarrestedwhatdowedo?" asked Riley very quickly.

"Riley I didn't understand a thing you just said," Ben was lying. He had heard one word. Ian.

"Ben, he's back, he's back. He escaped jail, it was on the news, they had his picture. Ben he's…" Riley's voice stopped, replaced by a loud crash and static on the other end.

"Riley!" Ben shouted. Nothing. "RILEY!" The guilt from leaving Abigail behind was flowing back. "Oh no," whispered Ben. He pulled his car over into the nearest parking lot. He franticly dialed her number, so afraid of what he might find out that he forgot she was on speed dial. But he had no idea that it was already too late.

As soon as Ben left, the men made their move, surrounding Ben and Abigail's mansion. They were Ian's men of course. They picked the lock on the door and snuck in. They had cornered Abigail in the living room. "Come quietly and you won't be hurt. At least, not yet," warned one of them.

"Not a chance," argued Abigail, and she bolted past them and up the stairs. She sped around, hoping desperately that they hadn't done anything to Ben. She picked up a vase and smashed it over one criminal's head. Then she sprinted towards the bedroom before remembering that it was a dead end. Now she sat in the back of her captors' van, handcuffed, with duct tape over her mouth. She remembered her cell phone left on the living room table and cursed herself for forgetting it. There was only one hope left for her. Ben. He wasn't in the van, so they must not have gotten him. She only hoped he and Riley would be able to help her.

"Hello, this is Abigail, I can't come to the phone right now, so please leave a message and…" Ben slammed the phone shut. He cursed out loud for being so careless. How could he just leave her there alone? And how could Ian be on the loose? His phone, still in his hand, rang. He was getting a text message. His heart jumped into his throat. It was from Riley. Or at least from Riley's cell phone. He flipped open the phone and read the message out loud to himself.

"You're on your own Gates. You have 12 hours to contact me." It was signed 'an old friend'. "Great," shouted Ben, banging his head on the steering wheel. "Just great!"


	8. The Return

**AN: **Sorry the capter took so long, but FanFiction was down last night! Hope you enjoy anyway!

Also, I know this chapter is short, but there wasn't much I could do with it, and I thought I reached a good stopping point.

* * *

Riley opened his eyes. That was probably a bad sign since he didn't remember closing them in the first place. The righ side of his head was throbbing, but other than that he felt fine. He stared at the ceiling. It was concrete, like the rest of the room, with a single light hanging in the exact center. There was one door, on the opposite side of the room from where Riley was and no furniture at all. The man racked his brain, trying to figure out what had happened, how he had gotten here. He was still feeling sluggish from being unconscious, so it took a while for the knowledge to come. He had been talking to Ben. Talking about the news he just heard. The news that Ian had escaped. "Ian," muttered Riley. Then he groaned. Even talking made his head ache. Those men really knew how to hit a guy! The door creaked open and a man walked in, shutting it behind him. Riley sat up, sending a fresh wave of pain through his head. The man stepped into the light and smile widely.

"Hello Riley," said Ian murderously. "How are you?"

"Funny you should ask," he spat back.

"And why is that?"

"Because, you should know that I'm having the time of my life being kidnapped, knocked out, and brought to a solid concrete cell that could be in Saudi Arabia for all I know!" Riley said sarcastically.

"We've been talking for less than a minute, and already you have managed to get on my nerves," Ian's voice held a warning tone, but he also sounded a little impressed.

"It's just what I do best," Riley shrugged. Ian, quickly losing his patience, whipped out a gun and leveled it straight at Riley who was helpless on the floor.

"I don't think you fully understand your position," he growled. Riley tried to back up, but he was already against the wall.

"Wait, what are you doing Ian?" asked Riley in a quivering voice. "Don't do something you'll regret!"

"Oh I won't regret it," assured Ian. "Someone has to get hurt Riley. And you've annoyed me." He pulled back the safety. "It's nothing personal." Riley flinched and squeezed his eyes shut. Ian pulled the trigger. The bullet crashed into the wall two inches to the left of Riley's exposed head. The shock knocked the young man out cold again. Ian chuckled. "Sleep well, Riley, but remember, I never miss twice!"

-------------------------------

In the next room, Abigail was awoken from a fitful sleep by the gunshot. She bolted upright, her heart racing, just as Ian Howe entered the room. "What have you done?" she demanded, mortified. If Ian had shot someone, she may be in the company of a murderer! And worse, she could be next. Trebling Abigail waited for the man to draw his gun. However, Ian must have been reading her mind. He tapped the butt of the gun and smiled.

"I'm not going to hurt you, as long as you cooperate. Your friend was being annoying, If anything he got what he deserved."

Thoughts raced through Abigail's mind. Had Ben been captured too? But he wouldn't be stupid enough to annoy someone as dangerous as Ian. She only knew one person who would do that. "You shot Riley!" she cried.

"Of course not!" argued Ian. "Do you think I'd give up my most valuable bargaining chip that easily? I just scared him a bit, that's all."

Abigail's heartbeat was slowly returning to normal as she calmed down. "A human life is _not_ a bargaining chip!" she said indignantly. Bargaining chip. Ian was after something. Of course, the treasure. She knew someone would end up getting hurt over this.

"That's what _you_ think," said Ian. "Ben called while you were asleep, you see, and he was surprisingly willing to do whatever I asked."

"Well he won't do it," protested Abigail. "He can't do it. Not without Riley's help."

"Oh I'm sure he can if he's… properly motivated. I'll let you get some rest, you'll need it. It's a big day for you and the computer nerd tomorrow." He walked out and slammed the door behind him, checked that it was properly locked and walked away, leaving Abigail alone with her thoughts.


	9. Conversations

**AN:** Another chapter! And it's longer! Now, what on Earth is the next clue? Time to find out!!!

* * *

Ben sat in front of his computer screen, staring at an enlarged picture of page 47 on his computer. "There has to be a key," he muttered. Anything that would help him unlock the code on the paper inside the metal tube from the shipwreck. "There has to be!" Ben took a sip of coffee. He hadn't slept since he had gotten the text message. He had, of course, called Ian almost immediately. Ian wanted the treasure. He had given Ben 48 hours. Since then, 12 hours and 23 minutes had passed. Not that Ben was counting. Ben sighed deeply. He needed to talk to Riley. Talking to the younger man always cheered him up, calmed him down, and might even help him figure out the clue. Plus he really wanted to make sure his friend was okay. Ben reached for his cell phone, which had never been further than three feet away for the entire time since the first message. He flipped it open, pressed one, and hit send. He could only hope that Ian was in a good mood. It rang twice then Ben heard Ian's voice. 

"Hello, Ben. Got the clue already, have you?" Ian sounded quite pleased with himself.

"I need to talk to Riley

"Not even a please?" Ian tsked like a mother correcting a small child. "That's not very polite, Ben."

"I want to talk to Riley, _please_" said Ben through gritted teeth.

"I'll see if he's come around yet."

"Come around? Ian what have you done to him?" Ben demanded. This was followed by a torrent of curse words. "Ian, I swear, if you do _anything_ to _either_ of them, I swear I am going to…"

"Are you sure it's wise to threaten someone who determines weather or not your wife and friend have a future?" asked Ian. On the other end, Ben maintained a stony silence. Ian opened a door. Riley was sitting up. He had been conscious for hours now, and Ian knew that, he just loved annoying Ben. Riley blinked. One of his eyes was surrounded by a bluish-purple ring. A souvenir of his last talk with Ian. He put a protective hand over his arm where Ian had kicked him earlier. Ian shook his head and handed Riley the phone. "It's for you," he stated.

"Hello?" said Riley hesitantly.

"Riley! Are you okay?" Ben asked.

Riley's face cracked into a weak smile. "Yeah, I'm fine," he lied. "Don't worry about me. There's nothing Ian can do to me. How are you coming with the clue? Have you figured it out yet?" Riley noted Ian's expression change to curiosity.

"Riley, I have no lead, I've tried every complicated cipher in the book, nothing!"

"Then try an easy one," suggested Riley.

"Maybe…" Ben muttered. He sketched out a plan on the paper in front of him, a key for the Caesar Cipher, one of the least complicated ciphers he knew of.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C

"Well, Ben?"

"Hang on, Riley." Ben started decoding. He got the first word. Beneath. He kept going, and soon, the whole thing was clear.

"Riley, you're a total genius!"

"Oh, I see, it didn't work." Riley said. Trying to telepathically tell Ben that Ian was there, listening in on the conversation.

"Okay, I got it, Ian's listening," Ben observed.

"Yeah, I understand," Riley tried to sound crestfallen.

"Okay, here goes, Beneath Virginia's House of Law. Through the door. Same Key. That's all there is, just three lines. Think on it will you?"

"I will, Ben."

"And Riley," said Ben. "I'm getting you out of there Riley. No matter what it takes, if it's the last thing I ever do, I will not leave you and Abigail in Ian's clutches. Now, give Ian the phone, I need to talk to Abigail."

"Okay, Ben." Riley pulled the phone away. He handed it to Ian. "Ben wants to talk to you." Ian took the phone and left. Riley sat back against the wall, working his brain. It was after all, one of the things he did best.

---------------------

Ian opened the next door. Abigail was relatively unhurt,mostly from being agreeable, though she did have a black eye to match Riley's and her hair was tangled and knotted from sleeping on the rough concrete floor. "It's Ben," said Ian and handed her the phone.

"Ben! Ben! Thank goodness!" she gasped.

"Abigail, are you okay?" Ben asked.

"Not really, Ben, I'm a hostage."

"Sorry about that, you were right Abigail, you're always right. I'm going to get you out. Don't worry," he promised.

"So, any leads?" she said carefully. Ben repeated the riddle to her.

"Oh. Okay. Bye, Ben. Good luck. Don't waste those 36 hours." She closed the phone and handed it to Ian.

"Well?"

"He can't find a key anywhere. He says he's going to keep trying," said Abigail. "But if I know Ben, he'll find a way to find the treasure, and get you back in jail."

"Because that worked so well last time," sneered Ian.

"I trust him," she said.

Ian kicked her in the shin. Then he turned and left. _'Ben better find that treasure,' _he thought. _'I can't wait much longer.'_

_

* * *

_

**AN: **I'm going to be mean toaday. You guys don't get an update until I hit 50 reviews! So click the button!


	10. Halfway There

**AN: **I was going to wait until 50 reviews to update, but I was really, really impatient to get this chapter up, so I guess you guys lucked out! Also, there is one bad word later in this chapter. I don't think you all would be too concerned, but just in case...

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anyone. It would be cool if I did though.

* * *

24 hours were left until the deadline. Abigail and Riley were sitting next to each other in the back of a van. Of course, Ian hadn't bothered to ensure comfort for his two captives, and had gotten only a two seat van. Ian's men were following in a different car. Riley was knocked against Abigail as the van swerved without warning. They were going somewhere, but they had no idea where. Ian had come to each of them a few hours ago, and told them it was time to move. Riley suspected that it was to keep the FBI off his trail. Ian was smart. Riley had to give him that. But he wasn't smart enough. Riley had figured out the clue. Beneath Virginia's house of Law. The House of Burgesses, he guessed. Through the door, obvious. Same key, he thought, might refer to the key in the tube that the paper had been wrapped around. The van swerved again, and this time Abigail crashed into Riley.

"Be careful Ian," snapped Riley, manuvering his way out from under Abigail.

"Shut up," Ian retorted.

Riley opened his mouth to respond, but Abigail touched his arm and shook her head. "It's not worth it," she whispered.

The van stopped suddenly. Both hostages slid across the floor of the van. The door was flung open. Riley half considered making a break for it, but he decided not to. It wouldn't help him or Abigail if he got shot. Ian's men pulled them roughly out of the van. They were in a large field in front of a couple of buildings. One looked like a once grand, closed down hotel, but the other looked like an old storage shed. One of the men tripped Riley as he walked and caused him to fall hard onto the ground. "Watch your step Riley," chided Ian as he exited the van.

After he got up, Riley muttered something extremely rude under his breath and the man tripped him again. "Leave him alone!" protested Abigail.

Ian turned on her. "Listen carefully," he said. "Both of you. Ben didn't call you for nothing. I think you both know what the next clue is. And I know I am going to find out. There are three ways this can happen. One, you tell me. Two, you convince Ben to tell me. Three, I force it out of you. So, which will it be?"

"Ben didn't tell us anything," argued Riley, knowing he was a much better liar than Abigail. "Don't you think if he knew the clue, he'd tell you to keep us safe?"

Ian stepped towards Riley. He tried to stand his ground and stay protectively in front of Abigail. "You know," I'm not sure he would." Ian took another step. "I think, he'd call the FBI and they'd trace his phone calls, and you would all end up double crossing me. So, from now on, I'm going to stop being nice and make sure there's no possible way I'm getting the wrong information." He looked from one to the other. "Is that clear?" Abigail nodded, figuring it was the smart thing to do, while Riley was still glaring daggers at Ian.

"That was being nice?" he asked.

Ian nodded at Riley. "Him first." The men seized both of Riley's arms and dragged him towards the building that looked like a storage shed. Ian then took Abigail and led her to a room inside the closed up hotel. It was much nicer than the concrete cell, and even though it was tiny and only had one small bed, it at least had a bathroom and electricity.

"I'm not impressed," she lied. "What are you going to do to Riley?"

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with," said Ian dismissively.

"So you say," she said.

"He'll come through it in one piece. Probably," assured Ian.

"You're a monster!" cried Abigail.

Ian just chuckled. "Don't worry. If your friend doesn't cooperate, I'll see you in an hour… or so," he left the room with a smile that gave Abigail chills. She laid down on the bed but she couldn't sleep. Every time she closed her eyes she saw terrible visions of Riley, dead on the floor, Ben crying, Ian laughing. She could also hear screams, but couldn't tell if she was imagining them or not. Abigail sat up, resting her back against the headboard and hugged her knees to her chest.

"Hurry Ben, please hurry," she whispered.

----------------------------

"Hello, Riley," said Ian. He walked into the room and slammed the door. It was another concrete room, much like the one Riley had been locked in originally. But now he was chained to the wall.

"Go to hell," he retorted.

"That's not nice at all," said Ian. He punched Riley in the stomach. Riley groaned. "Now, what's the clue?" Riley didn't look up. Ian whacked him with the butt of his gun. "I said, what's the clue?"

"I told you, I don't know," said Riley defiantly. Ian slapped Riley across the face.

"I'm losing my patience!" Ian roared.

"Losing?" Riley managed to ask.

"When will you learn, Poole, that you are not in charge here?" asked Ian. Riley half shrugged. Ian slammed Riley's head against the wall, knocking him unconscious for the third time in 36 hours. He gestured to the two men standing by the door. "Take him away," he said tonelessly. Riley would talk. They always talked. It was just a matter of time. And he only had 23 hours of it left.

* * *

**AN:** Well, Ian's being a real ray of sunshine today, isn't he? Please Review! 


	11. I'll Take Those Odds

**AN:** First off, I'd like to thak my reviewers! I got ten reviews for the last chapter! Thank you everyone! I now have more than 50! This is my first successful FanFiction, and all of you have made it possible! -applause-

Secondly, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, so I hope you enjoy reading it!!

Thirdly, The italics are Riley's dream. The rest is really happening, just to clarify.

**Disclaimer:** Still don't own them.

* * *

Riley Poole was dreaming as he floated between sleep and unconsciousness. It was more like a nightmare, actually. He was reliving the moment, the first day he'd ever been physically bullied. That was actually strange, because he hadn't thought much about the day since it happened. By the time he'd woken up from his concussion, the whole thing had been sorted out and the kids had been sent to juvenile. Later that year, Riley and his family had moved. Riley had never seen the kids again.

"_How are you doing?" the confident teenager greeted his friends as they gathered in the park. He had on a loose sports jersey with his name on the back. He was a natural born leader, afraid of nothing, willing to do anything to get what he wanted. _

"_Doing good," one replied. The tiny seven year old kid in glasses who had been playing around with some action figures in the grass looked up. _

"_Well," he corrected. _

"_Well what?" asked the older boy, annoyed._

"_You said you were doing good. It should be doing well," explained Riley. He had no idea how much this would tick off the gang members. After all, his dad, a college English teacher, always stressed the importance of proper grammar at home._

_The boys weren't very impressed however. "So, looks like we've found a miniature nerd," said the guy. They all closed in. Riley sensed he was in danger and started backing away. _

"_Bu- But my dad says grammar's important," he faltered._

"_So it's a whole family of nerds," taunted the leader, speaking for the first time. "Well, admit it, shorty!" he ordered. Two of the gang members seized Riley's arms. The short skinny boy struggled violently._

"_I am not a nerd, and neither is my dad," he shouted defiantly. The park was virtually empty, and the few people there didn't seem to care about the struggles of a seven year old kid. The gang leader raised his fist. "You wouldn't hit a guy in glasses," protested Riley. The fist shot out. Riley dropped to the ground to avoid it, now literally hanging down between the two people holding him. The leader quickly lashed out with his foot, hitting Riley in the stomach._

"_That felt good," the teenager said. "Now was there something you wanted to say?" Riley shook his head violently. Wrong answer. The boys continued to torment him. _

_Suddenly the boy and his gang began to grow and change form. They grew larger and larger, becoming Ian and his men. They were ten feet tall, now twenty. Ian pointed the gun at Riley, who was still the size of a seven year old and trebling with fear. "Goodnight, Riley!" he said, and pulled the trigger._

Riley sat bolt upright in the bed. After he shook off the dizziness he realized that he was actually in a bed. That was surprising. The dream started to come back to him and he shivered in fear, because now, he recognized the boy. The strange accent, the light hair, the laugh, and the name on the back of the jersey. Ian Howe. He was the first person to ever physically torment Riley. And if he kept up like this, he might also be the last. Riley saw a sliver of metal out the window reflecting the moonlight. A fire escape! Riley pushed the window open. It was a good ten stories down and most of the stairs were rusted. His fear of heights was bad enough, but this? Riley thought back to the dream, if he stayed, Ian would kill him. If he left, he might be able to bring back help.

"I'll take those odds," muttered Riley, and he started down the stairs. A few of them creaked, but nothing broke. He dropped the final four or so feet to the ground. He looked at the street. It had taken about ten minutes to get here at about 70 miles an hour. Riley did a few quick estimates in his head. That was about ten miles. He sighed and started walking. This could be a long night.

----------------------------

A few hours later he reached a small town. Riley checked his watch by the glow from a streetlight. 11:45. He was exhausted. Riley dug in his pockets and thanked no one in particular that Ian hadn't taken his money. He summoned a cab and got back to his apartment. Once there, he loaded a few things onto his laptop, slipped it into the case and drove off in his Ferrari. The roads were empty, but by now it was nearly 2:00 in the morning. Twelve hours until Ian's deadline. Riley stopped in front of Ben's house and got out of the car. He heard a huge explosive noise, felt a wave of heat crash into his back. Riley turned around to see his car, his precious car in fiery pieces.

"Oh. My. God," he whispered. Riley ran up the rest up the driveway and started pounding on his friend's door. "Ben!" he shouted. "Ben! BEN! For goodness sake Ben, It's Riley, open up!!!" He kept banging urgently on the door. He heard people coming up behind him; felt a cloth pressed against his face. "BEN!" he cried one more time. Then he heard Ian's voice in his ear.

"Sooo predictable, Riley. You'd think a little nerd like you would be slightly smarter." Riley shrugged off his laptop case and it landed next to the steps on the grass. Then he blacked out again.

* * *

**AN: **I know, it's short! But I really think it adds something to the story of why Ian seems to be picking on Riley so much. I came up with the whole grammatical arguement from my sister this morning, who I decided to annoy by correcting her grammar all this morning until she finally tried to kill me (It didn't work well, she's only 7). Review, and be patient, more is on the way!! 


	12. Messages

**AN: **Very short chapter!! I'm sorry, everyone, but some chapters have to be :(

**Disclaimer: **Nope, you're not getting one. I'm sick of these.

* * *

Ben had finally collapsed from exhaustion while trying to formulate a plan to rescue Riley and Abigail. He was slumped forward in a chair, with his head resting on the desk in front of him. He was having a really strange dream. Not as strange as some he had had in the past, but certainly not a normal one.

_Ben stood in the dark room, directly across from Ian. The room was huge and Ian seemed so far away. Abigail stood in the middle, handcuffed to a bomb. The timer was ticking down from twelve hours. Ian laughed triumphantly. _

"_You lose, Gates!" he said. The timer's numbers all jumped to zero._

"_Abigail!" shouted Ben. There was a flash of fire and the sound of a muffled explosion. When Ben's vision returned to normal, Abigail was gone and Ian stood in her place with Riley next to him. The British man brandished a wooden club. Ian started hitting Riley. As the noise of flesh against wood continued he could hear Riley's voice, crying out, desperate. _

"_Ben! Ben!" Ben tried to run forward to help his friend, but his body wouldn't obey. Ian laughed some more. Riley screamed. Ben felt only hopelessness. There was no help for either of them now. _

Ben slowly opened his eyes, surprised that he wasn't in his bed. As he did he thought heard Riley cry out again, but figured it must be lasting effects from the nightmare. Ben stood up. He needed a walk around his yard to clear his head. He glanced at the clock. 2:05 am. He sighed. It was now or never for a plan. But maybe the walk would help. Ben pushed open his front door and his eyes widened to take in the smoldering remains of Riley's Ferrari. He glanced quickly around for any signs of blood or a struggle, a sickening feeling growing in his stomach. All Ben found was a black bag in the grass next to the steps. Riley's laptop case. His fried had been here, without a doubt. And maybe, just maybe, he had left a clue. Ben picked up the case and carried it inside, all tiredness gone. He slipped the computer out of the case and opened it up. He selected the user Ben and typed in his password, figuring that's where Riley would've stored anything, just so Ian couldn't get to it. A Word document popped up onto the page. Ben scanned it, figuring it was there for a reason.

_Ben,_

_If you're reading this then I have been recaptured. Which means I probably need your help. Congratulations on finding the laptop by the way. Now, I figured out the next clue, and what you need to do next. Just follow the instructions following the letter. Good luck!_

_-Riley_

_P.S. Edison found a way to make a light bulb; you found a way to steal the declaration. Now it's my turn! _

Ben started to feel sick again. Riley had left him a message, but he might pay for it with his life. For the first time, Ben fully appreciated the complete dedication and bravery his friend had. Ben scanned the directions and opened the appropriate files. They were all building plans. Building plans for the House of Burgesses. Ben smiled. He traced the lines Riley had added in. There was a basement. With a trapdoor that had never been opened. They had never figured out how. It was sealed by an iron padlock. Ben seized the key from the metal tube. He considered calling the president to let him know the situation. It was that serious now. Then he remembered it was nearly three in the morning. There was really nothing to do but sleep. So sleep he would.

-----------------------

Somewhere else, Riley was shoved, half conscious, into the interrogation room he'd been in previously by a very tired, annoyed looking Ian. The eyes of both men were bloodshot with exhaustion. They stared at each other. Ian trying to stare the younger man down, while Riley was just trying to stand his ground, maybe read Ian's expression. But nothing was revealed. Ian shook his head in disgust. "I'll deal with you tomorrow," he muttered. And he slammed the door behind him.

Riley sat down on the hard concrete floor. "Why does it _always_ happen to me?" he moaned. But at least some good things had come of all this. He had proved that Ian wasn't perfect. And he had gotten his message to Ben.

* * *

**AN: **Ohhh... Very suspenseful Ian. Whatever shall we do?


	13. Deadline

**AN: **More mild cursing, but I think you probably would too in this situation. Read and Review!

* * *

When Ben finally woke up he knew something was wrong. It wasn't just the afternoon sunlight streaming through the room, the green letters on the clock face reading 12:59 pm, or the computer screen flashing that he had a new email. It was a feeling. A deep, terrible weight that he had felt when he realized that Abigail and Riley had been kidnapped. He could tell something bad was about to happen, and then, after a few moments of grogginess, it registered with him. "The deadline!" shouted Ben. "How could I have slept for ten hours! That is so Riley, not me!" Had Abigail or Riley been there, it would've alarmed them to hear Ben shouting like that. But they weren't. And if Ben didn't hurry, they might never be. He had one hour. Ben dialed the number for the FBI. 

"Hello?"

"Sadusky, is that you?? It's Ben."

"Yes, Ben, how may I help you?"

"How may you- Listen Sadusky. Why didn't you all us when Ian was out of jail?" demanded Ben angrily.

"I was sure you would see it on the news, the FBI's very busy you know."

"Damnit Sadusky! If we had known one hour earlier, if you had had time for one five minute phone call, then Riley and Abigail wouldn't have been kidnapped!" shouted Ben.

"Kidnapped?" asked the agent.

"Yes, kidnapped! You didn't think I was calling to file a complaint did you? Now, I have to talk to the president!"

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that Ben," said Sadusky firmly.

"What is _wrong_ with you! If I don't talk to the president, they will die! Ian has them, and If I don't tell him where a treasure is in less than one hour, he's going to kill them and come after me. Then you'll have to come after me too."

"Why?" asked Sadusky surprised.

"Because, Agent Sadusky, I don't care what you say, but if Ian hurts either of them, I'll kill him. I don't care what the jail time is. I don't care that revenge is wrong. I he so much as thinks about killing Abigail or Riley, he'll be returned to your custody in a body bag."

There was silence from Sadusky. Ben really sounded serious, and that worried him. "Calm down Ben. I'll get you in contact with the president. We'll see what he can do." There was a click as the FBI agent hung up.

Ben sat back in his chair. "What am I going to do now?" he groaned.

---------------

Abigail Gates was pushed roughly into a small concrete room. "Wait here, it'll be about fifteen minutes," the guard informed her gruffly. _Fifteen minutes until what?_ she wondered, but she didn't ask. She was afraid of what she might hear. She knew Riley had tried to escape last night. Now they were probably both dead. She was surprised to see Riley laying on he ground, with quite a few more bruises and cuts than before. She bent over and shook him.

"Riley, wake up," muttered Abigail.

"Ben? Go away, sleepy," Riley moaned.

"It's me, Abigail."

"What's for breakfast?" Riley asked.

"I'm sorry Riley," said Abigail. She puled a bottle of water out of her coat pocket and dumped it over his head. Riley bolted upright.

"I'm awake, I'm awake," he complained. "Oh," he mumbled on seeing Abigail's face.

"You idiot!" she shouted. "How could you risk both our lives by running off like that? What did you think you would achieve? What on Earth were you thinking?"

Riley motioned her closer. "It was a message," he whispered. "I left a message for Ben, on my laptop and I left it at his house. He knows where the next clue is."

"The next clue!?" Riley cringed. "Is all this just about treasure? What about our lives which just _happen_ to be in danger?" He didn't answer.

Just then the door flew open. It was Ian. Riley wiped some of the dried blood from his cheek and stood up. Or he at least tried. He toppled back wards and Abigail caught him. Ian smiled grimly. "Time to go," he said. They walked out to the same van they'd been in previously. Ian started driving off.

"Ian, where are we going?" asked Riley.

"Since Ben doesn't want to talk to me, you're going to help me with a little project."

"What kind of project Ian?" said Abigail.

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough." He smiled wickedly.

"And if we refuse to help?" The word were barely out of his mouth when Riley regretted them.

"Then I'll shoot you." The rest of the ride passed in complete silence, with both Riley and Abigail wondering what this 'project' was and why Ian needed them. Neither's guesses were very pleasant.

----------------------

1:45. Sadusky hadn't called back. Ben reached for his phone and right before he got to it, it rang. Trying not to look at the number, and with a sense of growing dread, he opened it. But it was only a text. And it was from Ian. He read it quickly.

_Check the news._

Ben flipped on the TV. His hands were trebling and sweaty. He could hear the announcer reporting the murders of Riley Poole and Abigail Gates inside his head. But instead he heard something else.

"The house, which burned down earlier today was witnessed by many to be set on fire by an arsonist." Ben's eyes widened. He knew the house. He had spent his entire childhood in it. His dad's place. He silently thanked everything that could be thanked that his parents were away in Europe. "It is also believed that the fire was intended to kill, Mr. and Mrs. Gates, parents of the famous Ben Gates, who, thankfully were on their honeymoon at the time. Evidence found at the scene of the crime suggests that two suspects may have been in the area. Abigail Gates and Riley Poole." At this point Ben cursed angrily. "Poole and Gates have since disappeared, but are wanted for questioning about arson and attempted murder." Ben turned off the TV and cursed again. Even if he saved Abigail and Riley, they'd go straight to jail. "I hate him," muttered Ben. "I really hate him." He glanced at the clock. It was now 2:00. The deadline had officially passed. His phone rang again. Another message waited.

_ You're parents are gone, Ben. Care to reconsider helping me? _

_

* * *

_

**AN: **So many questions! Aren't we lucky that Patrik and Emily were gone? What will Ben do? Will Abigail and Riley survive? Why didn't Sadusky call back? You have to review to get another chapter!


	14. The Meeting Arranged

**AN: **Minor character death! Just a warning everyone. Ben and Abigail and Riley are okay though. Kind of. For now.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own them. I do own a Riley Mii on my Wii, but nothing else. (If anyone else is so obsessed they made a Riley Mii, please let me know. If not, I will seek psychological help, thank you!)

* * *

Upon finding out Ian's master plan, Abigail and Riley were very shocked, but also, each was slightly relieved, though neither showed it. The plan didn't go exactly the way Ian planned. Riley and Abigail both refused to cooperate. Ian had expected as much, but he hadn't known that they both recognized the house as Ben's parents'. That made them even less willing to cooperate. In the end, Ian had to disguise two of his henchmen as Abigail and Riley, (The man dressed as Abigail had NOT been happy. Ian had to promise him an extra share of treasure to get him to do it) and knock the actual pair out.

"Okay, thirty minutes at the least." Ian said. He put on his gloves and then pressed a gas can into Abigail's hand. Then he did the same thing with a lighter, only this time he did it to Riley. Then the Riley and Abigail disguised henchmen took the items and left the van. The act had to be convincing. 'Abigail' smeared gas all outside the house with the non DNA can, and then threw it through the window. Then the disguised henchman used the one Abigail had touched and dropped it in the yard. The second henchman lit the house and ran towards the street. He was careful to leave the lighter in the driveway. Ian sat back and smiled. The job was done. Now to wait for the news to arrive. He waited until the fire had mostly consumed the house, videotaping it to send to the news station. Then, when he knew it was too late he called 911. Ian Howe hung up the phone 5 minutes later. "Drive." He ordered. One word and the van sped off.

---------------------------------

Ben checked his watch. Exactly 5:42 pm. It had been over four hours and Sadusky hadn't returned his call. He sighed. The agent probably didn't believe him. He probably hadn't even tried to call the president. As he had said before 'The FBI is very busy.' Well, Ben would just have to get proof. _I'll prove it to him,_ thought Ben. _I can't let Ian kill Abigail and Riley. _He thought deeply, thinking of a plan. _And I'll have to prove their innocence too. _The phone rang. It was Ian. Ben reached for then phone, but stopped. Maybe he could try something he had discovered by accident. He counted the rings. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. This was it. _One Mississippi, _he counted in his head. Then he picked up the phone, cutting across the voicemail.

"Ian," he said. "What do you want?"

"There was no need to drag the FBI into this," growled Ian, ignoring the question.

"What do you mean?"

"Telling that agent was a bad decision, Ben. I know you called him. Don't ask how, because I won't tell you. But it was cruel Ben, causing the man that much stress," Ben could hear the sneer in Ian's voice.

"What are you talking about? He ignored me. I didn't cause him distress!" protested Ben

"Really? Didn't you hear?" Now Ben could envision Ian smirking at him. The man cleared his throat and continued as though reciting a speech. "Agent Peter Sadusky was found dead about thirty minutes ago by a visiting colleague. Gunshot wound to the head. It looks like he shot himself."

"You killed him! Just like you burned down my parents' house and kidnapped Abigail and Riley!" shouted Ben. He only hoped Ian would fall for the trap.

"I told you when we started all this Ben, not to mess with me. This was the result. Did you really think you could get away with it?" Ian chuckled. Ben felt like smiling himself despite the situation. Ian hadn't been able to resist bragging about his 'accomplishments'. It would cost him in the end. Then he lost all happiness, it was replaced by anger as he realized that Sadusky had been killed for no reason. Ian didn't need to kill anyone, he could have just walked away, moved somewhere else.

"Ian you–" Ben started

"Now, Ben, I'll give you one minute to compose yourself and then I'll call you back. You can tell me the clue. Understand?" There was a click and Ian hung up. Ben pressed end and check his phone. One new voicemail. The trap had worked perfectly. But it wouldn't help Abigail and Riley yet. He would have to wait, play all his cards right.

"Alright Ian, it's a game of skill. Let's see how good you are."

-------------------------

"He won't tell you anything," said Riley dully. He and Abigail were sitting in the room where Ian had just gotten off the phone with Ben. They were flanked by henchmen on either side. Ian shook his head.

"Oh he will, that's why I've brought you here," explained Ian. "I want you to be here when Ben tells me the clue. Since you didn't believe it would happen." The man nodded. "It's been a minute. I sure hope your friend is past saying things he might regret later," he grinned wickedly at the helpless pair. "For your sake." Ian dialed the number.

"Hello?" the volume was loud enough on the phone that Riley could hear his friend's voice coming through the receiver

"Ah, Ben, it's you!"

Ben resisted the urge to say 'Well, who else would it be?' Instead he gave a weak, "Yeah."

"Ready to tell me the clue?"

"Don't say anything!" cried Riley.

"That was very unwise of you Poole!" warned Ian. The henchmen whacked Riley with the gun until he let out an involuntary moan.

"Riley!" shouted Ben.

"Oh don't worry, he's in one piece. Abigail too. But that could change quickly if you don't tell me the clue."

Ben sighed. He had no choice. "The House of Burgesses," he revealed. Riley dropped his shoulders and slumped down in his seat. Now Ian would kill them _and _get the treasure. Just great. "The clue says to look under the House of Burgesses."

Ian nodded. "I'll meet you there, Ben. 1:00 pm, tomorrow afternoon. Can you make it?"

"Yeah," sighed Ben resignedly

"And Ben, Thank you for your cooperation. I knew you'd see it my way. Good bye!" he hung up the phone. Then he nodded at his men. "Get ready to go," he ordered.

* * *

**AN: **Well, we know why Sadusky didn't call back. Get me to at least 80 reviews and you get a new chapter! 


	15. Beneath The House Of Law

**AN:** Sorry it took so long! I had a lot of fun wring the flashbacks, though, and this is my longest chapter ever! Yay! Thanks to my awesome reviewers, here's chapter 14!!

**Disclaimer: **The disclaimer has gone on vactaion under the claim that it feels overworked :(

* * *

Dreams are an entrance into our deepest thoughts and feelings. Ian's dream, well, not the most normal one, I can tell you that much.

_He was on the Charlotte. They began to argue about the Declaration. An argument that would seem so stupid in hindsight. _

"_I'll make all the arrangements," Ian offered._

"_No."_

"_Then you're nothing more than a hindrance," He motioned Shaw to raise the gun. The flashback progressed in this way. Until, finally Ben tossed the flare. _Don't catch it, idiot! _He told himself, but of course he did anyway. He watched in horror as his sleeve caught fire. He ran to edge of the cargo hold. Ian stood in the doorway he saw Ben's face. There was something there, something unreadable, fear of course but maybe… disappointment, in him. Ian hesitated for a moment. Then the wall of flame erupted in front of his face. He slammed the door of the cargo hold and locked it. There was no time for regrets now. He ran out into the snow when they came for him. Sadusky, bleeding from the head. Ben, carrying the broken declaration case under one arm. His brother, bleeding from a broken nose, and countless others. Ian did the only thing he could do, he screamed._

Ian sat up; he was sweating, and breathing hard. He shook his head. This was not a time for guilt. It was too late for that. Guilt was unacceptable now. It would hinder his plans, and as al hindrances, it must be gotten rid of. Ian rolled over and fell asleep again. He didn't have another nightmare.

_-----------------------------_

Ben paced in front of the House of Burgesses. Riley's laptop was in its case, slung over his shoulder. Also slipped into the case were printed blueprints and security system maps. Even though he _was_ helping the president, Ben doubted he'd just be allowed to waltz into the basement of an important historical building to try and find treasure. Of course the treasure itself probably wasn't here, but the map might be. A black SUV pulled up in front of the building. Ian got out of the driver's seat. A few of his men, Abigail, and Riley climbed out of the back Riley's eyes caught the laptop and he beamed widely. Ben couldn't return the gesture however. Nor could he stand the sight of his most loyal friend with two black eyes, a few cuts, various bruises and walking with a limp. Abigail was in much better condition, but she didn't look so great either. Ian and company stopped across from Ben, who was standing there with his fists clenched.

"Behind the building," said Ian, more to Ben than anyone else. "We need to talk." The entire group went behind the building as ordered. There was nobody else around. Abigail and Riley were being restrained by two men each. Riley had his eyes closed. He appeared unconscious, but his mouth was moving. Ben could hear him talking to himself.

"Find a happy place, find a happy place…" the younger man muttered it repeatedly as though it were a magic spell. Ian drew his gun and aimed it at Riley.

"Quiet Riley!" he commanded. Anger rose up inside of Ben, nobody, _nobody_ messed with his friend like this. But Ben fought it. Any slip-ups now and- no, no, it wouldn't happen. He refused to think about it. "I'm surprised you came Ben," lied Ian. "Well, then again, maybe not so much. I figured that if taking your wife weren't enough, perhaps taking your most valuable tool would be." Ben could almost see Riley's blood boiling. He felt the exact same way. It took all of the treasure hunter's self control not to punch Ian then and there.

"Riley is not a tool!" growled Ben. The younger man looked up sharply. He had been staring at the ground, but now the techie looked straight at Ben. There was something in his expression. Pride, gratefulness and maybe even, shock? Ben wondered, did he really treat Riley that badly. Suddenly and without warning, he was hit by a sudden stream of flashbacks.

-------------------------

_They had been back at Ben's house for six hours now after their trip to London. Abigail was sitting silently, thinking. Ben was staring at his picture of the piece of wood. Riley was hanging upside down on the armchair singing 'I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts' for the hundredth (at least) time in a row._

"_Big ones small ones some as big as your- HEY!" he cried out as Ben pinned him to the chair Abigail grabbed the man's car keys from the table and dangled them out the window._

"_Hey, not fair guys! We're on the third floor!" protested Riley as he struggled. _

"_One more word Riley…" threatened Abigail._

"_Let me sing it one more time?"_

"_NO!" argued Ben._

"_Too bad!" Riley broke away, snatched back his keys from a stunned Abigail and resumed his song._

_------------------------------_

"_Listen to Riley," he was leaning over the shelf, holding out a book._

_------------------------------_

"_You didn't even open it!" cried an indignant Riley as he saw Ben pull out his unopened book._

_-------------------------------_

'_Accidentally in Love' was blaring in the background. Ben was on one knee, all ready to propose. "Riley!" he groaned. The man bounded into the room with a grin wide enough to split his face. _

"_Just wanted to set the mood," he said. Abigail laughed. So did Ben._

"_Would you," he chuckled, looking up at Abigail. He tried to start the question again, but looking into her eyes made him crack up. This song really _did_ fit them. Luckily she understood. _

"_Of course!" she cried between bouts of laughter. They kissed. Riley made a face and left the room._

-------------------------------------

"Ben?" asked Ian.

"What?"

"Did you hear a word I just said?"

"Um…"

"Never mind Ben, I said we're going to find the next clue. And if you help me, you get Abigail back." He nodded his head towards the building. "Let's go."

After Riley had disabled the security cameras, they went in with a tour, keeping to the back of the group. Riley got a few weird looks, but no one said anything. Ben saw a flight of old dusty stairs. He motioned the others behind him and they descended into a creepy basement. Ian pulled out a flashlight and shined it around. There was a metal shape on the floor. Ben pushed the key into the padlock and twisted it. There was about a two foot drop and a tunnel.

_Who wants to go down the creepy tunnel inside the tomb first?_

The line came back to everyone as they stared into the trapdoor.

"I'll go," offered Riley. Before anyone could protest, he dropped himself through the hole and began to crawl. He came into a large open room with a chest in the middle, identical to the one on the Queen Anne's Revere, complete with combination lock. "Same key," muttered Riley. He flipped the dials to the same number, 1718. The chest creaked open before any of the others had even made it inside. They crowded around Riley.

"What is it?" asked Abigail.

Riley picked up the object. "It's a lantern," he said. "And there's something inside."

There was a rolled up piece of paper where the candle would be. Ben carefully extracted it and read it out loud.

"The map's been moved, hidden, but you can find it with my twin." He sighed. "That's all. Just another clue." Ben held the lantern upwards. There was some sort of natural, eerie bluish light in the room, but he had no idea how it was there. Ian shined the flashlight on it. Riley grinned, he, being the shortest could see the writing on the bottom. Carved in metal it said one word and one word only. Boston.

"Alright Ben," said Ian. "You found the clue for me. Now, I will give you your wife back as a good faith payment. And I keep Mr. Poole until we find the treasure."

"I need to talk to Riley first." Ian stared at him suspiciously. Ben spread out his arms as if to say 'Where could I go?' Ian nodded.

"Fine."

Ben pulled his friend aside. Riley tried not to wince as Ben grabbed his hurt arm. "Ben, I'll be fine, take Abi," He said.

"I don't know. He might let me go, kill you and then try to find the treasure himself."

"He can't do that!" protested Riley. Then he looked at Ben. "Can he do that?" he asked weakly.

"He can. He killed Sadusky."

"No!"

"Look, Riley, I'll do whatever I can, but I'm not leaving you with him. There are a million things that could go wrong."

Riley hesitated. Then he shook his head, looking more serious than Ben had ever seen him before. "No. There's no way we'd make it out. You don't have a choice Ben."

Ben finally confessed what he'd been thinking all along. "I know Riley," he sighed. "I know."

* * *

**AN: **Ohhh a sort-of cliff hanger. And we are all left wondering, what will Ian do to Riley now. Poor guy! Let's all give him a cookie! -gives Riley a cookie- 


	16. The Chase

**AN: **Thanks for all the great reviews! I'm really hoping to hit 100 with this chapter! Riley wishes to thak everyone who gave him a cookie, saying that they made him feel much better. Also check out my other story, Not Your Average Proposal!

**Disclaimer: **Still on vacation, sorry for any inconvenience!

* * *

Ben and Riley stared at each other for about a full minute. There was really nothing left to be said. Riley was trying and mostly failing to conceal his fear. Ben was doing the same with his guilt.

"Riley…" Ben started.

Riley smiled. It was forced, obviously, but it was still an amazingly calm gesture considering the situation. "Ben, I'll be fine. And you have Abigail."

Ben was shocked. He was used to comforting Riley, not the other way around. However, he wasn't surprised by Riley's decision. "Riley," Ben spoke up, "I won't let him keep you. Just hold on. You're like a brother to me, and I'd never _ever_ leave you behind."

Riley smiled, this time genuinely. He nodded. "I know," he said. The two men turned and walked to face Ian. Riley nervously stepped forward. So did Abigail. They met in the middle. Riley was shaking. Abigail smiled at him. He tried to smile back, but he just couldn't manage it. They walked to either side of the room. Abigail joined Ben, who immediately brought her into an embrace. Riley's welcome was less receiving Ian grabbed him and dragged him towards two of the men. Riley thought they were called Powell and… Phil, yeah, that was it! Powell, who was at least three inches taller than him and much more muscular, jabbed him with a gun.

"Good to have you back!" he said.

Riley laughed nervously. "Uh, same to you?"

"Hey, wait a minute!" protested Ian. Ben and Abigail had started down the passageway and taken the clue with them. The henchmen all glanced at each other. "Well, what are you waiting for?" demanded Ian. "Go and get them!" Dragging Riley along, Ian and his men began pursuit of Ben and Abigail.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" asked Abigail as she and Ben sped out of the building.

"Sure I'm sure… kind of." Ben sighed. "Abigail, if we have the clue, he has a reason to keep Riley alive. If he has the clue, he could figure out the rest, he wouldn't need anything to bargain with."

Abigail nodded. "You're right." She opened the door and slid into the car. Ben got into the driver's seat. Then he sped off.

Just as they were getting into the car, Ian's men were running out to the parking lot. "Let's move!" shouted Ian. They all loaded into the car. Riley knew what was coming. _Oh boy, another car chase,_ he thought, but for once he had the sense not to say it out loud. "Drive!" The car sped off.

"What do we do when we catch them?" asked one of the new additions to Ian's gang.

"Get the clue," said Ian simply. "Powell, shoot."

The man drew his gun and leaned out the window. He aimed at the back tire and fired off a shot just as Ben made a sharp right turn. The window of another car shattered. Riley slammed against Phil as Ian made the same right turn. "Dude, Red light!" shouted Riley. Ben had already sped by before the color change, and Ian wasn't about to lose him. The car kept going. A huge bus shot in front of them and missed the SUV by inches. Riley and the others all screamed. Ben heard a loud horn and turned around to see the SUV gaining speed. Powell pulled out his gun again and fired. The back window shattered. Glass sprayed across Abigail's face. Ben ducked the glass shards and kept going. Another bullet ricocheted off the car's bumper, narrowly missing a tire.

"Ben!" cried Abigail. Narrowly avoiding a truck, Ben swerved around it. Ian momentarily lost sight of them, and Ben used that to his advantage, making a left and doubling back so that he could head home, hopefully without further incident.

Ian cursed as the truck pulled away. He was at a four way intersection and Ben was nowhere in sight. "Smart move, Gates," he growled. In the backseat Riley stiffened. He figured Ian's new rage would be directed at him. He was right. Ian whirled around. "You put him up to this!" Riley shook his head vigorously. He could imagine smoke coming out of his captor's ears and tried not to chuckle. Ian narrowed his eyes and then turned back to driving. "Doesn't matter," he muttered. "Gates will find the treasure for me. After all, it's not like he has a choice. He smiled cruelly at Riley, who started shaking again. _I really hope Ben figures out the clue soon, _he thought. Back in the House of Burgesses basement the lantern, with the word carved into the bottom, lay alone inside an open chest.

* * *

**AN: **Reviewer response time! 

**klutzy-redhead: **Thank you, that was the main reason I added that in. No one can be completely heartless.

**broadwaylover07**: I might consider it after I start the NTOFA- National Treasure Obsessed Fan Association :) I started it among my friends, but I'm the only member...

**Supernaturalfreakisabookworm: **Geeze you have a long username! On topic... Please don't send evil Riley after me! He's not as funny as good Riley!

**To everyone who says they hate me _now_: **Wait until we get to the _twist_ of the story!!! -evil cackle-


	17. Reactions And A Plan

**AN:** Sorry the last chapter was kind of a filler. But it really wouldn't be National Treasure without a carchase, and I wanted to stress Ben and Riley's strong friendship in that situation. This one sort of is a filler too, but the plot does develop a bit and Sabrina is back!

Credit to: **Rose of Hope **for the idea that kept Sabrina in the story!

**Disclaimer: **Still on vacation. Lucky thing's in France right now...

* * *

It had been three days since Sabrina had heard from Riley. She was beginning to get worried. First was the escape of vengeful criminal Ian Howe. The FBI hadn't really concerned, because since Sabrina was one of their agents, they figured she could help protect them. Then had come the burning of the house, with Riley being a primary suspect, his and Abigail's disappearance, and finally, the murder of leading FBI agent Sadusky, yes, the FBI knew it was a murder, even if the local police didn't, less than twelve hours after a phone call from Ben Gates. Most anyone could put two and two together, but the majority of them chose not to. Sabrina did. She didn't like the result. The FBI was in chaos, no one was in charge, and under the cover of the mayhem, Sabrina Smith set out to find Ben, and maybe what had happened to the rest of the treasure hunting trio.

----------------------

Ben parked in his driveway. Abigail got out of the car and stood unmoving, staring at the house. Ben touched her arm lightly. "Are you all right?" he asked softly. She turned on him unexpectedly and began shouting.

"All right? _All right?_ Sure, I'm just a _little _shaken up after being shot at, beaten up, been accused of arson, and survived _another _close car chase, because of your _stupid_ treasure hunt!!!!!" she screamed.

"That's all?" asked Ben, relieved that Ian hadn't hurt her too badly.

"No! I've also been kidnapped by an insane maniac!"

"Who, Ian?" It was a stupid question really, but Ben had never seen his wife this angry.

"Yes! Because. Of. You!" She stormed off towards her car parked further up in the driveway.

"Abigail, wait!" Ben chased her. He caught up and grabbed her shoulder. "Abigail I'm sorry. I didn't know any of this would happen!"

"I just don't want me you or Riley getting ourselves killed!" she argued.

"Yeah… Riley…" Ben said sadly.

"Yes, that too you just _left_ him Ben! Your best friend!"

"I had no choice!" he said angrily, his voice rising. "If I had tried to get Riley out Ian would have killed all of us! The only reason he's still alive now is because we have the clue and Ian's too lazy to figure out the damn riddles out himself!" Ben was shouting, now angry again, his standard emotion for the past few days. "This way he'll hand over Riley when we find the treasure and we'll be done with him!"

"That's the problem," sighed Abigail. "You trust Ian to keep his word. He won't. When you find the treasure you me _and _Riley will die if he gets a say in it."

"No, you won't because you're staying here!"

Abigail ignored him. "You need a plan Ben," she said, calming down.

"I'm working on it," Ben muttered.

"Not to interrupt, but maybe I can help?" suggested a new voice.

"Sabrina?" said Ben and Abigail at the same time.

"What are you doing here?" asked Ben.

"Looking for Riley," she said. "Plus I'm going to help you."

"I'm not sure this is the best situation for you to get involved in…" said Ben uncomfortably.

"Really?" she smiled and flipped out her badge in true movie-cop style. "Because I'm with the FBI."

"You have got to be kidding me," groaned Ben.

"So how do you intend to help us?" asked Abigail. Sabrina thought for a minute.

"We need to call Ian."

---------------------------------------

Ian and Riley had been staring at each other for the past hour. Ian was puzzling over what he remembered of the clue, and suspected Riley knew more than he was telling. But he hadn't gone back to physical violence. Not yet. Ian's phone rang loudly. The ringtone was Nickleback's 'Savin' Me'.

"For a villain you've got good taste in music," commented Riley, unable to resist. Ian sneered at him and picked up the phone.

"Ben, that was not a good idea running off with the clue like that-" Ian started, but a female voice interrupted him.

"I want to speak to Riley," Sabrina said, trying to sound timid. "Please?"

"Who the bloody-"

"Sabrina Smith, I'm Riley's girlfriend," she cut him off again.

_Well, I can certainly see how they get along so well,_ thought Ian as he was interrupted for the second time. "First, why should I let you talk to him? Secondly, how do I know you're who you say you are? And thirdly, how did you get this number?"

"For the first question, because I'm his girlfriend, for the second one, just ask him and thirdly, His friend Ben told me," she answered.

Ian took Sabrina's advice. "Riley do you know a Sabrina Smith?" asked Ian.

Concern filled Riley's eyes. "N... No" he lied, trying to protect her from Ian.

"Really?" asked Ian, and passed him the phone. Riley took it with trembling hands.

"Hello?"

"Riley!" cried Sabrina Ben and Abigail in unison, very relieved. "You're on speaker," informed Abigail.

"Hey guys," said Riley. He looked at Ian and half smiled. "The British are coming," he said and chuckled.

"Riley did he hit you harder than I thought?" asked Ben.

"No, it's a joke. Ian's British and he's coming for the clue. Get it?" Silence. Riley sighed. "Just wanted to try and cheer you all up. It takes a lot off my conscience knowing I at least tried to help you," he muttered.

Ben shook his head. _The British are coming, why on Earth would that help us…_ and that's when Ben realized he wasn't talking about making a joke anymore.

"Thanks for the effort Riley," said Ben.

"Hey, Sabrina."

"Yeah?"

"I'm fine okay; I'm going to be fine. No idea where I am, Ian wouldn't let me tell you anyway, but I'm fine. Just find me so we can go see another movie soon, okay," he said the last word loudly because Ian had ripped the phone from his hand.

"See all of you, he's fine. But unless you bring me the clue, or figure it out in twelve hours, I'm not sure he'll stay that way. You know what I'm capable of Ben." Silent tears were flowing down Sabrina's cheeks. Abigail looked shocked. Ben was red with anger.

"You will not kill Riley, Ian. If you do I will hunt you down. Even if you did get the treasure you wouldn't live to spend it," he growled.

"But it'll be too late then. Too late to change anything. So think long and hard Ben. I want that treasure." And with that he hung up.

* * *

**AN: **So I hope you all enjoyed Ben's anger. Did anyone catch what I meant you to catch? If you mention it in your review you get a life size Riley cardboard figure!!


	18. Giving In

**Disclaimer: **Is bored of making appearances, I mean, come on, it's the 17th chapter! 

* * *

Ben set the phone aside. His face was still red, he was struggling to conceal a variety of emotions. He slammed his fists down on the table in uncontrolled anger, god, he felt so, so… helpless! He stared at the table as though trying to burn a hole in it with his gaze. Then, finally, he looked up into the faces of the two women. The only two people left who would be willing to help him. But look what happened to people who helped him. Look what was happening to Riley. "I'm going after Ian," murmured Ben. He waked towards the door. Abigail and Sabrina seized either one of his arms.

"You can't do this alone Ben!" said Abigail.

"I don't want either of you hurt! I got Riley into this mess, now _I'm_ getting him out!"

"Ben, it's not your fault," Sabrina reminded him calmly. "It's Ian's. And we're both willing to help you right his wrong."

"And I thought you were an airhead," muttered Abigail to herself. Sabrina heard.

"Not when I'm on the job," she replied. Abigail turned a deep shade of red even though Sabrina was smiling.

Ben shrugged them off and turned to face them. "Fine. I guess…" he took a deep breath. "I need your help. Do either of you have a plan?" No response. "Is there any way to get to Riley without the clue do you think?"

Sabrina looked thoughtful. "No, no I don't think so. Ian's dangerous. We need to get Riley back and then I can send the FBI in after him and the treasure. For now we just need to do what he says. If Ian even suspects the FBI is involved again he'll kill again. Yeah, I know he killed Sadusky," she said in response to the couple's stunned looks, "I'm not stupid. I figured that out while everyone else was running around trying to find a new leader. It's all pretty chaotic right now. Ian did a good job," she revealed sadly.

"So Ben, the clue?" asked Abigail, nodding.

He grinned. "It's simple Abigail. The British are coming. There must have been something else, something Riley knew. After all, he was there first." They all thought back to the conversation.

…_knowing I at least tried to help you…_

"He slowed down the last two words…" Sabrina started.

"To make a point…" added Abigail.

_The Old North Church in Boston, where Thomas Newton hung a lantern in the steeple, to signal Paul Revere that the British were coming. One if by land…_

"Two if by sea," whispered Abigail completing the famous code.

"What?" asked Sabrina, puzzled.

" Boston!" 

"Exactly," Ben smiled. "You always were good with the clues."

"Riley, he looked at the bottom of the lamp when we were in the room, it changed him, but I didn't mention it because Ian was around, and then I forgot. There must have been more on the bottom of the lantern!" exclaimed Abigail.

" Old North Church?" asked Sabrina.

Ben nodded. " Old North Church."

"So should we call Ian?"

Just then the phone rang. Ben scooped it up and flipped it open without checking the number.

"Ian?"

"Who's Ian?"

"Dad! Are you alright? No one's tried to hurt you, right?" asked Ben urgently.

"Our house is gone, Ben," said Patrick, sounding very confused.

"Oh, right," Ben sighed. "I suppose you and Mom better come over. We'll explain the whole thing." He hung up. "At this rate we'll have Ian outnumbered," observed Ben.

"Good for the status quo."

Ben gave Sabrina a funny look. "My Dad would've said that."

A little while later they sat at Ben and Abigail's kitchen table, facing Ben's mom and dad. They were listening intently to the story. Sabrina had introduced herself and contributed really nothing since.

"So we have to get to Old North Church immediately, to save Riley." Ben finished. He was out of breath.

" Old North Church," hi father looked petrified. "It _was_ a clue."

"Yeah. We came that close to Ian finding a treasure after all." Ben could almost hear Riley making some sarcastic or pessimistic comment about it being a bad omen. Ben missed his friend so much. The phone rang again. It was one of those cheesy, comes-with-the-phone ringtones and everyone rolled their eyes. Hearing the thing ring so often was really getting on Abigail's nerves especially. Ben picked it up.

"Hello?" he said wearily.

"Ben, your friend is really getting on my nerves."

"Then give him back!" Ben put Ian on speaker but motioned the others to be quiet.

"No. He knows where my treasure is. He's having difficulty telling me though, so I thought maybe you could persuade him. Let me ask just one more time…" Ian's voice sounded like it was on speaker too. A door opened and closed.

"I told you I don't know anything!" Riley.

"Really? Because you were trying to give plenty of hints to your friends over the phone."

"Prove it." _Can't you ever keep your mouth shut!_ Ben wanted to scream. He did hear a scream. Not his, Riley's. Everyone in the room stiffened. The sound of a foot crashing into unprotected flesh. Over and over. A low moan.

"Tell me the clue!" It was directed at both Riley and Ben. Riley obviously didn't know Ben was listening or he probably wouldn't have said the fairly unrepeatable thing that caused Ian to kick him even harder.

" Old North Church!" Ben blurted.

"Ben?" groaned Riley.

"And how do I know it's real this time?"

"Find my twin. The twin of the lantern. On the, uh, bottom of the lantern it said where to find it. Twin lanterns hung because the British came by sea. Do you really think I'd be stupid enough to try and trick you Ian?" said Ben in a pained voice.

"Listen to him," moaned Riley helplessly.

"Shut up you!" ordered Ian. This time, Ian cursed as flesh hit concrete, and Ben guessed that Riley had dodged his punch. "This isn't over Ben. If you aren't in Boston in front of the church two days from now, it will be very bad for your friend. Is that clear?"

" Crystal," said Ben firmly. He slammed the phone shut. "Sabrina, Abigail, we're going to Boston."

* * *

**AN: **Everyone who reviewed my last chapter gets a Riley life size cardboard figure!! Yay! Now, applause for those who figured out Riley's clue! I can't list your names because I'm short on time, sorry! -applause-


	19. Finding The Map

**AN: **Sorry about the wait, blame my orthodontist, cough, teachers, anyone you want really, but thi chapter really develops the plot. The climax approaches (DUN DUN DUN)

**Disclaimer: **It quit. It was upset about only getting .000001 percent of the treasure.

* * *

They had changed locations again. This time to a nice hotel in Boston. Ian must have been a in an extremely good mood, because now Riley had a TV, a king-size bed, a ginormous bathroom, and, an internet enabled laptop. Sure he was locked in and had no windows, but come on, the internet definitely beats sunlight. Or at least, it did from Riley's pint of view. Of course Ian had blocked every e-mail, message board, chatroom, and even being able to review stories, games and videos. Riley had (of course) used his excessive hacking skills to try and get past it. He ended up crashing the computer and it had taken hours to reboot it. Riley finally realized that without the right equipment, even _he_ couldn't get around the block. But at least he could play Space Invaders, which was exactly what he was doing when Ian walked in.

"Die evil space scum!" He shouted, pounding the spacebar. "That's the last time you blast my- Oh, Ian." Riley jumped so much he nearly fell out of the chair.

Ian's face was almost red from trying not to laugh. "Get up, we're going."

Riley picked himself up off the floor. "Yeah, okay." He followed Ian out the door and felt the familiar feeling of two men grabbing his arms. _Here we go again._ He thought. Ian seemed to read his mind.

"The clue says the map is here. Don't worry, Riley, it's almost over." Riley shuddered at the way he said almost over with a sneer as though it were a death sentence. Though, knowing Ian, it may well be.

"At least I got to beat my high score before being dragged off to my doom," he muttered. Ian rolled his eyes and they left the hotel.

---------------------------

"What if he's been here already?! What if we were too late? He could be doing terrible things to Riley right now and we'd have no idea!" raved Ben.

"Ben," sighed Abigail, "It's 9:30 in the morning. Plus, if we'd missed Ian he would have called. Just calm down okay." They were sitting on the steps in front of the Old North Church. Well, Abigail and Sabrina were sitting, Ben was pacing and raving. The street was actually deserted except for them, but it was a Monday morning. It had taken a lot of persuading to keep Patrick and Emily away, but eventually they relented, and the other four had left.

"I just wish he'd given us a time. We could be out here all day for all we know," mumbled Sabrina.

"Ian's going to come as soon as he can, I'm sure of it," said Abigail, shaking her head.

Really, Hollywood couldn't have planned a better entrance. No sooner were the words out of her mouth than the black SUV barreled up the street and came to a screeching halt, literally screeching, Abigail had to cover her ears, in front of the Church and Ian and his gang and Riley piled out.

Riley managed to break away from the men holding him back and walked towards his friends. Powell reached for his gun and started forward, but Ian stopped him.

"He's not running," Ian pointed out.

The trio relaxed visibly as did Riley as Powell lowered his weapon.

Riley finally reached them. "What's up?" he said.

Ben grabbed his shoulders and looked his friend up and down.

"You need to stop helping us, Riley, you look terrible," said Ben.

"Actually he looks a bit better," mused Abigail. It was true, the rings around his eyes had faded and the swelling had gone down.

"What are you, my mother?" joked Riley. Then he looked at Sabrina. "You guys know what day it is, right?" he asked.

"What?" said Sabrina.

"No, actually, I've been a bit preoccupied," muttered Ben. Ian, who had just walked up, shook his head too.

Riley grinned from ear to ear. "It's Valentine's day!" He seized Sabrina and kissed her. Ben and Abigail joined hands and smiled. Ian and his men looked annoyed. A few kids who were passing by, late for school, made exaggerated gagging noises and ran off. It seemed like an eternity before they finally broke away, both blushing furiously. "Sorry I couldn't get you anything else. Ian doesn't like his hostages going to buy Valentine's candy."

Despite the situation Ben, Abigail, Riley, and Sabrina all started laughing.

Ian cleared his throat. "Do you mind?"

Riley started towards the building when he reached the door he turned around. "How much you want to bet it's 'under the winding staircase of the steeple'?" he asked.

"It probably is," said Ben. He pulled out a lock pick and opened the door. Riley had disabled any alarms with Ian's laptop on their way here. The large party stepped inside the building. There was a large sort of lobby. A long hallway led off to both the left and right, and the body of the church spread out before them. Riley drifted off to the right down the hallway.

"Cool pictures," he said, looking over the paintings on the wall. He saw one of people being killed for their faith and stopped, making the same face he usually did when he saw people getting hurt.

"Hey, it's over here!" called Ben from the left. Riley and the others joined him. At the end of the hallway a large winding staircase rose.

"Well, it's not under the stairs," declared a very dusty Phil who emerged from under the staircase.

"Then we go up," Ian said. He nodded at Ben, who started up the steps. Ian followed. "Everyone else stays," he ordered. Abigail, who had one foot on the bottom step, stepped backwards and nodded.

Riley and Sabrina were standing off to the side, and, judging by the look on Riley's face, she had just revealed to him that she was with the FBI. Ben and Ian came down. Ian holding the lantern, Ben holding a rolled up piece of paper. Ian jerked at his head at Riley. "Bring him, let's go."

Sabrina seized him into a hug. "Be careful," she said.

"I will."

Ben put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "It's almost over," he said consolingly.

Riley nodded. "I know." What he thought was a bit more accurate. _I wish I could believe that_.

* * *

**AN: **Review! If you don't I'll send my Ian-clones after you. I won't send my Riley clones. They're MINE!


	20. Almost Over

**AN: **Oh no, shortness! Don't worry, the next chapter should more than make up for it. This is really just a filler because they can't magically poof from Boston to the treasure. Enjoy!!

* * *

A loud ring sounded through the house, indicating the start of a new hour. It was 1:00 in the morning. Ben, Sabrina and Abigail had just gotten back from Boston. Both women had gone to bed, while Ben and his parents stayed downstairs examining the map.

"So what's this lead to Ben?" asked his mom. "That's the only part of the story you left out."

Ben spread it out carefully over the kitchen table and weighed it down at the corners. He took a deep breath. "It's very top secret. Even Ian doesn't know. All he knows is that there's treasure involved." He looked up. "The legendary treasure of Captain William Kidd." Ben traced the entrance to an underground cave on the map. "To say he buried it would be an understatement," he murmured.

"You think it's in that cave then," said his dad.

"Well, it is circled on the map, and whoever left this behind, either Kidd or his son, meant for his descendants to find it." Ben explained. He quickly checked a latitude and longitude written in the corner. He traced it with the lines on the map. "And it matches perfectly."

"So it's another underground cave," observed his mother disapprovingly.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine. You and Abi are staying here. Dad'll come with me, I don't want to have to argue with him. Sabrina's going to get the FBI to set up a trap, it'll all work out. We'll start planning in the morning."

"It is the morning," Patrick pointed out moodily.

"Later in the morning then! We all need some sleep."

-----------------------

"No. Ben, if you go into that cave, you and Riley will die! There has to be another way."

"There is no other way, which is why you're not going!" argued Ben.

"I'm not letting you go down there alone," said Abigail determinedly

"I won't be alone, Dad's coming with me. I don't want to see you hurt! You know how important your safety is right now," Ben didn't want to say more with his parents and Sabrina in the room, but Abigail got what he was implying.

"Fine," the word carried both hostility and defeat.

"Well," started Ben, "I can see why no one ever found this place."

"Why's that?" asked Abigail curiously.

"The Bermuda Triangle. This island's right in the middle." Ben paused, then his eyes lit up. "I bet the myth was used as a cover for the location of the island! You know, the myth actually originated in 1492 when Christopher Columbus claimed to see strange sights within the perimeter of the triangle. Experts believe that the lights he saw were just cooking fires, but it's possible that Kidd remembered and encouraged the myth to keep common people away from his treasure!" Ben mused. He had gotten up and started pacing. If Riley were there he would have said that Ben was 'having one of his moments'.

"Ben, you're doing that ranting thing again," Abigail pointed out. Ben stopped pacing and sat back down slowly.

"What?"

"Ben, you kind of are," agreed Patrick. Emily nodded.

"Ranting?"

"Yeah, we just got an entire history of the Bermuda Triangle," Abigail said. "Besides, the first disappearances weren't actually reported until the 1800's."

"Yeah, but _still,_" Ben refused to let his theory rest.

"Ben, we need a plan to save Riley," Sabrina spoke up for the first time.

"I don't know how you and Riley get along, you being so quiet and him being so… so… _Riley_."

"Well, you know, opposites attract," she said dismissively. "Now," she pointed to the cave entrance and drew a circle around it with her finger. "We need to get there before Ian so we can set something up. We know the general terrain, but not if there are any good hiding places, or where we could land a plane or anything." She looked up. "We should leave today. Ben, Mr. Gates and I. Abigail, Mrs. Gates, you can come to, but once Ian arrives we'll need you out of the way."

"How are we going to get there?" asked Abigail, indicating that she wouldn't be left behind.

"Well, I can get an FBI pilot to fly us."

"Of course you can," muttered Abigail.

"So flying it is," said Patrick. Ben stood up.

"It's almost over," he breathed. "Okay, let's pack. I'll grab some of Riley's stuff, I'm sure he'll want his I-pod, laptop and some other random junk as soon as Ian lets him go. He'll finally be back with us and he won't speak a single word to us, just watch." Ben grinned. So did everyone else. Sabrina started to laugh and it spread. Ben laughed uncontrollably, relishing the break from the pent up tension and danger that had hung in the air lately. But something was still missing, the loudest laugh of all, that of his best friend. When Ben and the others finally gained control of themselves they went upstairs to pack. They were all thinking the same thing, and they knew it was true, though whether for good or for bad they couldn't tell. _It's almost over._

_

* * *

_

**AN:** Bad Author- Review, or you'll never find out what happens to Riley -evil cackle-

Good Author- I want at least 10 reviews for this one. Pretty please?


	21. Into The Cave

**AN:** I only got nine reviews, but I guess the reviews for this chapter will make up for it, right? Sorry it took so long to update, but I got grounded for doing FanFiction instead of studying. Doesn't matter really, I aced the test. Anyway, read review, and enjoy the long anticipated _climax_ of National Treasure Page 47!

* * *

"Okay, let me get this straight. When Ian comes, my dad and go into the cave with him, then you guys are going to come in and surround the entrance, and what looks like it could be a possible exit, _and_ post lookouts in case they come out somewhere else?" Ben said. 

Sabrina nodded.

"How'd you get that many people to come? I thought we were all lunatics," asked Ben. He and Sabrina stood alone on the edge of the rocky cliff where the entrance to the cave was located. It was a small hole in the edge of the cliff face, which continued a few feet higher after the opening closed. The ledge was actually pretty large and had a bunch of leafy bushes all over it and in front of the entrance. Ben sat down, resting his back against the cliff face, waiting for an answer.

"Hendrix. He said, he said Sadusky would have come and that the whole story makes since, but they do need evidence that Riley and Abigail aren't guilty of the arson. The rest of the guys came along. I guess, since he was Sadusky's aide he sort of gets looked up to now."

Ben looked at her. He realized that Sabrina cared deeply for Sadusky's loss. Sabrina caught his look. "He was like a father," she said unexpectedly. "To all of us. You too, you know, he cared a lot about your safety. He always suspected that Ian would escape somehow, that's the main reason I was at your parents' wedding, to look out for all of you. But I had read Riley's book and he looked so lonely," something inside Ben squirmed. "He's an incredible guy, Riley. You're really lucky to have him as a friend."

"Yeah. I am. I just wish I had told Riley that."

"But you will. I just hope he makes it out okay and that Ian doesn't…" her sentence trailed off.

"He won't. Not if I have anything to do with it."

Sabrina slipped a small object into Ben's hand. "You should take this. Even if you don't use it, it might even the playing field."

Ben stared at the gun in his hand. "I certainly hope so," he muttered. "I can't use it, but I can threaten with it."

"By the way, you have official permission from the entire FBI to use it defensively. We're all behind you Ben, good luck. You should go get your dad."

"Yeah." They started down separate paths. Sabrina towards the temporary FBI base, Ben down to where his mom dad and Abigail were talking among themselves. A large backpack was lying against a rock. Ben shouldered it.

"Why did you bring that?" asked Abigail. It looked so awkward on Ben.

"For Riley. It's his. If he were with us, he'd have brought it," Ben explained. Abigail opened her mouth to argue but Patrick put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. They sat in silence for a while. Then a few outlines appeared on the cliff. Ian was here.

"We should go," said Patrick. Both men kissed their wives goodbye.

"Be careful," whispered Abigail. "I don't know what I'd do if…"

"I will. I'll come back, no matter what. I wouldn't just leave you," Ben promised.

He turned around and he and his dad began to walk towards the cliff. They climbed the steep trail with an amazing lack of difficulty and reached the ledge.

"Ben!" said Riley gratefully. Then he grinned. "You brought my bag!" he grabbed for it as Ben handed it over and began rifling through it. Actually no word could describe the way he was going through it, but digging was certainly closer to rifling. Anyway as Riley dug through the bag, he messed up the result of Ben's laborious organization. "Laptop, I-Pod, water bottles, one coke bottle," he muttered a few more things, took a sip of the coke, replaced it, and looked up. Ben was on the verge of laughing, while Ian looked impatient. "Thanks, man!" said Riley.

"No problem."

"Are you sure you want to where that?" asked Ian. "If it's anything like the last cave we went in it might be a bad idea."

The other two men looked at each other. Was Ian _concerned_? Riley shrugged it off. "It's my backpack, I'll wear it if I want to."

"Suit yourself, but don't expect me to listen if you start complaining about the weight."

"Alright, stop talking." Ben took a deep breath. "We're going in."

--------------------------

When they all got through the cave entrance, Riley pulled a few flashlights from the bag. He tossed one to Ben, one to Ian (Making sure it was impossible for him to catch it, casing Ian to have to run after it) and keeping one himself. Ian came back from retrieving the flashlight and glared at Riley, who chuckled nervously. "S-sorry, my bad," he stammered.

"That's right it is," Ian growled.

"Can you two just stop fighting!" said Ben.

He turned on his flashlight and shined it downward. The ledge they were on ended abruptly and there was a ladder reaching down into the unknown. "Okay." Ben took a step forward and tentatively lowered himself onto the first rung of the ladder. He climbed down and called up for someone to follow. Riley was next and he climbed down with shocking agility for someone who'd been kidnapped and beaten. Ian and all four of his men followed, with Patrick trailing behind. Ian took a quick headcount and narrowed his eyes.

"Where's Abigail?" he asked suspiciously.

"Sick," said Ben and Patrick simultaneously.

"With the flu," Patrick lied.

Ian shook his head. "Whatever." Riley made his way cautiously forward, carefully, looking for hidden traps. He heard a whooshing noise and jumped backwards. A few arrows sped across his line of vision, inches from his face, and embedded themselves in the opposite wall.

"Booby trapped," he whispered.

Patrick patted his shoulder. "It's okay kid," he consoled.

"I'm _not_ a kid," muttered Riley defensively. They continued forward.

"Wait, stop!" cried Ben suddenly. Ian, who was in the front, beside Ben stopped suddenly.

"What?" In response, Ben shined his flashlight down into the pit in front of them, filled with bones and sharp rusty spikes. "Yeah, real original," muttered Ian, trying to hide the shock in his voice.

"So what do we do?" Riley's voice broke the stunned silence. Good grief, no one had been this shocked when _he _had almost been killed.

"Over here, there's a thin ledge, if we keep close to the wall…" Riley went over to the right side of the pit and inched his way across the ledge. Ian had been right, his backpack was starting to feel a bit heavy. Oh well. There was no way he'd ever admit it. The others followed Riley, and he could've sworn that Ian was shaking. _If I had telekinesis I could dangle him upside down over the spiky pit, I wonder how much he'd be shaking then,_ thought Riley. Then he shook himself mentally. _Wow, that was pretty dark for me._ His thoughts were interrupted by the pounding of Ben's hand against a metal door. There was a padlock on it and it was obviously not planning to open without the key.

"Darn it!" Ben nearly shouted. "We left the key in the trapdoor in Virginia!" Riley grinned.

"What are _you _so happy about?" barked Ian.

"I know something you don't know!" Everyone groaned. "We didn't leave the key in Virginia, because I took it out of the lock!" Riley pulled the key triumphantly out of his pocket and shoved it in the lock. Ben turned it and the door opened. It wasn't dark anymore. A small amount of dusty light streamed in from a crack in the high ceiling. They were standing on a ledge. There was a deep abyss next to them. Ben looked over and dizziness overcame him, even with a flashlight and he couldn't see the bottom.

"Spread out," said Ben. "Look for a door, an exit, anything that might lead to the next room." He ran his hands along the stone walls. They were close. He could feel it. But there was no obvious or even slightly possible way out. After thirty minutes of searching, they all agreed on that.

"It's a dead end," he said, disappointment was evident in his voice.

"You found it." Ian said it with simple conviction. Ben thought he'd gone mad.

"Found what?"

"The treasure. So help me Ben, show me where it is, or Riley will never make it out of the cave." The younger man tensed.

"Ben…" he started. _Help me,_ he added mentally.

Ben pulled out his only defense, the only thing that could possibly create some level ground between himself and Ian. Ben aimed the small dark object at Ian's head with quivering hands.

"Ben what are you doing?" demanded his father angrily.

But Ben ignored him. He felt… powerful. Ben took a step forward. "I am so sick, of you taking advantage of me!" It started as a low growl and grew into a shout that echoed across the cave. Ian appeared actually slightly scared, but guns do have that effect on people. However, he was very quick to respond by seizing Riley and using him as a human shield. Riley struggled in vain to get away. Ben's eyes were staring into Ian's, both pair full of hatred. "Let him go, Ian!" Ben was still shouting.

Ian laughed. "Gladly." In muddled slow motion, Ben saw him swing Riley around to the right and let go. Riley stumbled for a moment, trying to find his footing, and for a moment, it seemed like he had. Keyword seemed. Riley flashed Ben one last grin, he too thinking his balance was restored, but then the weight of the huge backpack combined with the lasting momentum of his body carried him backwards over the ledge.

* * *

**AN: **Yes, I know you want to throw things at me. I know half of you are leaving in disgust right now, but please, _please_ read this through to the end. I assure that you will not be dissapointed. Besides, don't you want to see what happens to Ian?? 

PS: This was the chapter that I first thought of, the one that inspired the story, but there's more to it. I cut it in half to make two chapters and give you a cliffhanger. Oh, yes I am evil, aren't I?


	22. Let's Settle This

**AN:**Not as many reviews as I expected, but oh well. You'll review this one though, right? -puppy dog eyes-

_

* * *

Ian laughed. "Gladly." In muddled slow motion, Ben saw him swing Riley around to the right and let go. Riley stumbled for a moment, trying to find his footing, and for a moment, it seemed like he had. Keyword seemed. Riley flashed Ben one last grin, he too thinking his balance was restored, but then the weight of the huge backpack combined with the lasting momentum of his body carried him backwards over the ledge._

"I told him wearing that thing was a bad idea," commented Ian as he turned away, seemingly unphased by the fact that he had just pushed someone off a cliff. Ben ran over to the edge. He was frozen, afraid, he peered down into the abyss. There was no sign of Riley, only darkness.

_Death and despair, maybe a little despair, the last few seconds, but then a hard, sudden death._

Riley seemed to have a comment for everything, even now that he was plunging towards his doom, Ben 's thoughts trailed back to the tilting platform that seemed like an eternity ago. Ben dragged himself back to the present and listened closely. There was faint screaming, an even fainter thud below, and suddenly, finally, silence. The most painful sound of them all. Ben realized he was still holding the gun and dropped it after Riley, hearing it clatter against the stone on the way down.

"The debt that all men pay…" murmured Ben, still gazing down. Tears threatened to fall but the treasure hunter held them back. All was quiet in the cave. Even Ian looked shocked now at what he'd done, same as his henchmen. For a moment, Ben considered jumping after his friend. After all, he had nothing to lose. It would be a relief even, certainly better than planning the funeral of his best friend. Ben inched closer to the edge. Then he stopped. He couldn't do it to Abigail. Or to his dad. He couldn't jump. Ben stepped back. He noticed Ian out of the corner of his eye. Ian. This was all his fault. Ian, who had nearly blown them up in the Charlotte, Ian who had chased them around the east coast. Ian, who had shot at them, Ian, who had just sent his best friend hurtling into endless blackness. Ben clenched his fists together with rage, hard enough that his knuckles began to turn white. He felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Ben…" said his dad in a broken voice. Ben shrugged off the hand.

"Ian Howe, you son of a-"

"Benjamin Franklin Gates!" interjected his father.

"You are the most horrible, worthless waste of gravity to ever walk this Earth!" Ben finished, oblivious to his father. "Well, Ian, you've got no more bargaining chips. Abigail's safe, you… you don't have Riley either. You have nothing to threaten me with. Let's settle this. Now."

Ian pulled out a gun and pointed it at Patrick. "What about dear old dad?" He asked. "I'll never run out of Bargaining chips, Ben."

"This is between you and me, not him, not your men. Just us."

"I'm not leaving you Ben," Patrick insisted. Ben again ignored his father and pulled Ian aside.

"Look, we need to end this. You and your men toss your weapons down there," he nodded towards the cliff, "And they leave with my dad. He'll give them an hour's head start before he calls the FBI. You and I stay. Winner leaves the cave, loser doesn't."

"I haven't been in a good fight in years," said Ian. He discreetly slid a hand into his pocket, as if checking for something. "This should be fun."

"Until you lose."

"We'll see," said Ian with a smirk.

Ben explained the plan to his father. Patrick wasn't very happy. "I refuse. I'm not leaving you here to get yourself killed, Ben I can't I just can't!"

Ben however was adamant. "Dad, you saw what he did. To Riley, to Sadusky. I have to. If I don't at least try I'll never be able to… Look, just take care of Abigail for me if I don't make it out."

"She's perfectly capable of taking care of herself I'm sure," grumbled Patrick.

"Yeah. Now she is," said Ben uncomfortably. "But uh, give it a few months and…"

"Benjamin Gates, you did not!"

"Well, between the champagne at our wedding and the wine when we got home- Oh never mind, we _are _married, Dad what did you expect?" asked Ben helplessly.

"Certainly not for you to abandon your pregnant wife to go fight some lunatic!" hissed Patrick, trying to keep from being overheard.

"Dad, just promise."

"Fine, you're a grown person, I can't stop you, but try to make it out. I don't want to hear what your mother'll have to say about this."

"I'll do my best," promised Ben. Ian came forward.

"All right then, they're leaving." Ian and the four men tossed their weapons sullenly over the edge. Patrick left with them.

"I'm going to enjoy this…" muttered Ben. He shot out as hard as he could with his fist. The fight had begun. The loser would stay in the cave forever, in the form of a corpse, there was no going back now.

The punch landed with incredible force. It hit Ian square on the nose, but not quite hard enough to break it.

"Good hit Gates," spat Ian. He kicked and Ben fell to the ground, clutching his leg. The men fought, punching, kicking, scratching, biting, anything. They met in the middle of the cave floor, and Ian threw Ben to the ground. Ben got back up quickly and ran at Ian. They pushed against each other, the latter overpowering the former and pushing him to the edge. "Say hello to Riley!" growled Ian.

_Hello to Riley!_ Riley's voice echoed sarcastically in Ben's thoughts. Ben almost opened his mouth and said it. Then he stopped. He saw Abigail's tear streaked face, His mother's horrified look, Sabrina sobbing hysterically. Ben shook his head. He didn't want to die. "Ian," God, his voice sounded so pathetic. Ben cleared his throat. "Ian," he started again, stronger this time. "Let's compromise. I...I can't leave Abi."

"Awww, how sweet," mocked Ian.

"Ian, please. I'll do just about anything. I'll forget you ever existed, I won't call the FBI, I just need to be with her." Ben took a huge risk, trying to play with the man's emotions, even though they were buried deeply out of reach. "She's pregnant Ian." Ben took a deep breath. "I'll never treasure hunt again, ever, I promise." Ian seemed to be considering. He didn't have the heartlessness to murder another person anyway. He had gotten his revenge, after all, hadn't he? Suddenly a voice interrupted Ian's musings.

"That's a pity," it said. "I was really looking forward to the next one."

* * *

**AN: **Cliffhanger! MUHAHAHAHA!!!

Congrats to athousandyellowdasies to figuring out that Abigail was going to have a baby. And if you want a sequel start telling now so that I can come up with a plot...


	23. Turning Around

**AN: **I'm sorry an update took so long, but it was exam week at our school and we had a band competetion today that I had to prepare for, so I was kind of busy. We got the best score you can get though, so yay for us!

Also, I got 14 reviews, more than any other chapter! Thank you all! Now, on to the story!!!

* * *

The look on Ben's face would later be described as "priceless". Words couldn't begin to tell the mixed emotions playing over his face. Ian meanwhile, had released Ben in complete, absolute, total shock. Ben took this opportunity to move away from the edge of the cliff, carefully maneuvering himself so that Ian was between him and the person who had spoken. Ian had sat down and was trying to stop himself from shaking. This was his dreams, no, his nightmares come alive. It just wasn't possible. "It's _not_ possible," he muttered, more to himself than anything.

"Oh yeah," said a backpackless Riley stepping into the light, "I'm definitely a mutated zombie alien who's taken the form of Riley to come and suck out your brains."

"That's almost more believable," muttered Ben in complete amazement. "I thought you'd died."

"It takes more than a little fall to get rid of me."

"A _little_ fall!?" That's when Ben started laughing. "You have got to be kidding me." Then he stopped. He looked down at Ian. "What are we going to do with him?" In response, something flew over Ian's head. Ben fumbled with it for a moment the caught it. "The guns" he whispered. On the ground, Ian's eyes widened, flickering from Ben to Riley. It was emotion he had never felt this strongly before. An emotion you usually don't feel when you're in control. Fear. Gripping, paralyzing fear.

_No_ he thought. _This is not happening. _"You can't shoot me." Ian said, standing up slowly. "I wouldn't have pushed you. You won't shoot me." He said it with more conviction than he felt.

Ben looked over Ian's shoulder at Riley, who was fiddling with a gun of his own as if unsure how to use it, or maybe unwilling to use it. "It's your decision Riley," sighed Ben finally. "You're the one he pushed." The young techie's intense blue eyes moved from the gun, to Ian, to Ben's face and back to Ian. He raised the weapon with a trembling hand. Then it dropped to his side.

"I can't. I can't do it." He sounded as relieved as Ian looked. Then he looked Ian in the eyes. "Run," he spat.

"Wha-What?"

"Run, scram, get out. The FBI will be right behind you. I hope they catch up to you. I never want to see you again. I am sick of you walking all over me. You've been trying to hurt me since I was seven, yeah I remember that," he answered the astonished look on Ian's face. "And one more thing. Don't you ever try to hurt my friends either." Riley stepped forward and slugged Ian across the face. "I've been wanting to do that for the longest time," he murmured. In the meantime, Ian had taken Riley's advice and was fleeing the cave.

"You let him go," said Ben. "What if he gets away?"

"If I know you or Sabrina half as well as I think I do, you've got a trap waiting up there."

"I'm glad Ian didn't know me that well," said Ben smiling.

"By the way, congratulations," said Riley. "I heard you talking to Ian. Someone's going to be a dad!"

Ben looked at Riley, his face plastered with mock annoyance. "Thanks for reminding me. Hey, you have to promise not to be a bad influence on the kid."

"Me? A bad influence? Come on, what would give you that idea?" joked Riley.

"Well, you never know." They stood silently for a few minutes. Finally Riley spoke up.

"There's one last thing Ben. The treasure."

"What about it?"

Riley looked like he was about to explode with exuberance. "It's down there. There's a ladder, and down the ladder there's a path into the wall. We can still find Captain Kidd's treasure Ben."

The treasure hunter grinned like a three year old kid with a bucket of candy. "Let's go!"

* * *

**AN:** Short, but it's not a cliffie this time! Yay for you! No, I did not have the guts to kill off Riley in my first full length NT fan fiction. I make no promises for future fics though...

-maniacal laughter-


	24. Treasure Cave

**AN: **Ha! Another update!I can't believe it's almost over. There might be only one or two chapters after this! But I'm thinking about a sequel, so you'll have to... pursuade me. -pokes review button-

Also I answered how Riley survived. I was going to save it for next chapter, but I needed more words, and you all wanted to know, so read away! Lots of friendshipness fluff here! Very sentimental and brotherly to lighten the mood.

* * *

Riley led the way. He took a shaky step forward, then stumbled. Ben caught his friend and supported him. "Geeze Riley," he said. Obviously the past days had taken more of a toll on Riley than he let on. 

"Sorry," he mumbled, trying to steady himself. Ben shook his head.

"I'm the one who dragged you into this." To Ben's surprise Riley started laughing.

"No, I volunteered, remember?" he said, thinking of the time at Ben's father's house that seemed so long ago. Ah, humor, Riley's way of trying to say that everything would be all right, weather he thought it would be or not. Ben gave a small, sad smile.

"I'm still sorry. Sorry you got kidnapped, sorry Ian pushed you, sorry I couldn't have stepped in, that I haven't been a better friend, that Abigail and I have been pushing you to the side that-"

"Don't be," said Riley seriously, cutting off Ben's rant of apology. "You pretty much saved my life a few minutes ago."

"What do you mean?"

"I swear if I hadn't had that backpack I'd be dead. It was so thick it absorbed all the impact. I don't remember hitting the ground. I think I lost consciousness." Riley thought for a moment. "I don't know how long it was, I woke up when like four guns landed all around me on the ground. With my luck I'm surprised none of them hit me. So anyway, then I saw the ladder, it's the same color as the rock, so its hard to find, I was just really lucky I guess, so I grabbed the guns and climbed up, and well, you know the rest."

Ben shook his head again, this time with a genuine smile. "I don't believe it. You've been kidnapped, beaten up, shot at, had your car blow up two feet in front of you, climbed through an ancient pirate cave full of traps, been pushed off a cliff and you're still in one piece."

"Last time I checked," was the reply.

"It's good you can survive that much, I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Same here." Riley paused. "You know Ben, as unbelievable as it may sound, me being so awesomely… uh, awesome, you're the first good friend I've had in years." Ben took all this in. he had never known that before. I mean, he had assumed Riley was teased by some people, but never that he had been that much of an outcast. _No wonder the poor kid is always so self sacrificing and talks all the time. He's never had someone to do that for before,_ reflected Ben. He remembered what Abigail had told him about Riley's reaction in the flooding city of gold, after he had noticed Riley being unusually silent.

"_He didn't want to leave you Ben. We had to hold him back so he didn't go get himself killed. He was literally fighting to get away. You're like a brother to him Ben."_

"So," said Ben, coming back to reality. "Are you up for finding some treasure?"

"Yeah, but let's take it easy down the ladder. I'm not sure I can survive the fall twice." Riley rubbed his head as if to make a point. Riley led the way to the ladder on the side of the abyss, a bit more steadily now. Ben went down first and Riley followed.

"How did you see down here?" asked Ben. He frowned, in the darkness, everything was shadowy and unclear.

"Oh, right!" exclaimed Riley. He fumbled with his flashlight for a moment and soon had it on. He pulled another from his pocket and handed it to Ben. They moved forward towards a fissure in the side of the wall. They slipped through, one after another. There was a long dark tunnel, and then it opened into a large room. Riley shined his flashlight on an unlit torch on the wall. He pulled a lighter out of his other pocket and lit the torch, he proceeded to light the rest. Ben gasped. The novelty of each new treasure was always breath taking, and this was no exception. There were mountains of gold, piles of silver and gold trinkets and silverware. There was a true sign that the treasure was really Kidd's, his flag hanging from an ornate solid gold flagpole shoved into a crack in the stone. Ben caught sight of a large gold medallion set with a huge ruby among the heaps of treasure. Swords and daggers were hanging from racks on the walls. Pistols and ammunition were piled up against the walls. Riley looked up, and noticed that the ceiling of the cave was covered entirely by a sheet of reflective bronze that played the torchlight across the cave. A gold crown lay in the middle of the cave floor. Riley put it on his head and adorned himself with three or four different medallions and a long purple robe he found.

"All hail King Riley!" he announced, parading grandly around the room, trying to keep from falling over with laughter. Ben, meanwhile, was flipping through ancient pirate records of sea battles and raids.

"Incredible" he murmured. He picked up one of the weapons, somehow in immaculate condition, and examined it. And Riley, still wearing his "kingly" attire, was literally rolling in the silver pieces of eight scattered over the floor.

"Ha! We did it again!" he cried out exuberantly. They certainly had. The legendary pirate treasure of Captain Kidd. What a find it was! "Hey look a little golden man! Not touching this one, God only knows what'll happen," Riley joked, sifting through mounds of objects.

"I suppose you'll want to stay here then while I go get the others?" said Ben, amused.

Riley shot him a look that clearly read 'No, duh!' and let out a yell of "Hey look! They stowed rum back here!"

Ben chuckled and slid out of the cave through what could only be an exit. There was another long tunnel, and finally, Ben Gates stepped out into the blinding tropical sun.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed! Remember, persuade me enough and you might just get a sequel... 


	25. Promises

**AN:** It's... over. I can't believe it's actually over. Never fear though, there is a sequelon the way, and I have a dedication Author's note thing that will bring this story to 26 chapters including the trailer! 

I think I will be using Riley's sister Lexy from my other story, _The Annoying Little Sister_ in the sequel. I really like writing her character, so tell me what you think! Suggestions welcome!

* * *

Staring. They were all staring. At him. He could almost feel their intense gazes boring into his skull. Ben actually reached his hand to his head to make certain that there wasn't a hole there. It was kind of sci-fi, but you never knew, now did you? Then he stepped forward, embracing Abigail, or more accurately, launching himself into her arms. Her face was red from crying, her eyes filled with relief. "I thought you wouldn't make it!" she sobbed into his shoulder. 

Ben looked up, past his wife. He saw a very ticked-off Ian being led away in handcuffs, looking murderous. Sabrina stood off to the side. She was a complete wreck, her tear filled eyes fixed on the cave exit. Patrick, who stood next to Ben's mother, was shooting her guilt ridden glances. He had obviously told the others what had gone on inside the cave before he left. Ben and Abigail finally released each other after a long moment. Ben walked up to Sabrina. She stared at him. 

"Where's Riley?" she asked in a sad, quiet voice, that left no doubt as to weather or not she knew, or rather, thought she did. So Ben's father had recounted the previous events. Well, then maybe it was time for a bit of a mischievous surprise. Ben put on a solemn face and sighed.

"Sabrina…" he said it carefully, trying not to laugh, though his face twitched a couple times. "I think you all ought to come follow me." Ben slipped back through the exit, hiding a smile and wishing he had a camera.

_What could he possibly want to show us?_, wondered Sabrina. Could it be Riley's broken body at the foot of the cliff? The abyss into which he had fallen? That he was still alive, but had no chance of survival? Sabrina couldn't decide which was worse. But she steeled herself for whatever might lie ahead and followed Ben.

_What on Earth is he up to,_ were the shared thoughts of those who knew Ben better. He didn't even look remotely upset. Wouldn't he be at least a little disturbed if Riley were dead? _He can't be dead. He's not dead. Riley can't die,_ those were the thoughts of Abigail as she too entered the cave followed by Ben's confused parents.

Ben shined his flashlight ahead of them. _I can't wait to see the looks on their faces,_ he thought. The treasure room opened up before him and he saw Riley in the corner, still wearing the robe and crown, swishing the rum around in one of the bottles, singing '99 bottles of rum on the wall' he hit 97 and took another off the shelf on the wall and set it next to him. Ben doubled back to the others. He cleared his throat.

"What you're about to see may shock you greatly," he started, "But I think you should considering you all know Riley. And I just, just can't put into words what I'm about to show you. They walked forward. Slowly, like a funeral procession, they advanced. Then, together, The party of five stepped into the room.

"95 bottles of rum on the wall, 95 bottles of rum! Take one down pass it around…" Riley sang on, oblivious.

"I said it may shock you," said Ben, choking down laughter. Sabrina laughed too, more with relief than anything. Ben's parents were mesmerized by the treasure and the grandeur of the room itself. Abigail punched Ben playfully on the arm.

"You scared us all half to death!" she complained. "It was funny though."

"92 bottles of rum on the wall. 92 bottles of rum on the wall 92 bottles of-"

"Hello Riley!" called Ben, unable to stand it anymore.

"Hey!" cried Riley indignantly. "You weren't supposed to _see_ that!" His eyes caught Sabrina's and he turned bright red. "Um…" he started. But she ran forward and hugged him.

"I'm so glad you're alive!" she said. "Ben went and scared us all, we thought you'd died!" Emily, Patrick, and Abigail joined in.

"Group hug!" called Abigail. Ben just stood back and grinned and how funny they looked.

"Aww, I survived the fall and now you guys are gonna strangle me? No fair!" he whined. Whiney Riley. That was a very _very _good sign. Maybe things would get back to normal after all.

----------------------------------

"That's quite a story," the President said. It was the next day, and Riley Abigail Ben and Sabrina were all sitting in the oval office. They had explained the story, Ben had played the message he recorded of Ian's confession, and they had told him the location of the treasure. "Well, now we can get Mr. Howe on murder and arson too. He's got a long sentence to serve; I don't think you'll ever be seeing him again."

"I certainly hope not," muttered Riley. 

"Now as for the matter of the finders' fee…" Riley sat up straighter. "I don't really want much of it. Maybe I'll take about one percent. I just wanted it to be found, maybe like the Templar Treasure, divide it amongst the museums. Do what you want with the rest." Riley's eyes looked like saucers now.

"Well, I'd say the approximate worth of the treasure is two billion dollars so that leaves you with…"

"20 million dollars." Everyone looked at Riley. "I'm good at math," he said offhandedly. Then he muttered to Ben. "10 percent, Ben, you promised I could pick the finder's fee." Everyone cracked a grin at that. "200 million dollars Ben. 50 million for each of the four of us."

Ben shook his head. "I'll have twenty five, that's plenty enough, Abigail?"

"I'll take the same."

Sabrina grinned. "That's seventy five million for each me and Riley." Riley raised an eyebrow. "I'm good at math too." 

"So we divide the rest, same as the other treasures. Give it to the people." Ben decided.

Abigail nodded, as did the President. "Give it to the people." They said together.

There was silence for a moment, and then finally Riley spoke up. "What do we do with the rum?" 

-----------------------------------

_One Month Later_

"No, Ian!" Riley's voice carried down the hallway. Ben was up immediately. He was used to this. Riley had been having nightmares for the past month since the incident. He was living with Ben and Abigail until he found a nice house closer to their's. After all, he claimed it was pointless to keep paying the rent on his apartment when he virtually lived at Ben's place anyway. Plus, he kept hinting that he might need more space in the future. Which didn't surprise Ben at all. He and Sabrina were still going strong. He pushed open the door to Riley's bedroom, trying not to step on any of the various gadgets spread out across the floor. He sat on the edge of Riley's bed.

"Ben, just shoot. I'll be okay, shoot him, Ben." Ben realized his friend was back in the cave, when Ian had been using him as a shield. Did Riley really think Ben would've pulled the trigger with him in the way? 

"Make him let me go! Won't speak again. No Ben don't! He's got a gun!" Riley moaned. Ben put a hand on his friends shoulder. 

"Riley, Riley it's okay. I'll be fine," said Ben softly.

"He's going to kill me Ben." Riley rolled over.

"No Riley. Ian's gone. He can't hurt you. I won't let him bother you ever again. I promise." Ben said firmly.

"Okay," Riley whispered weakly and went silent again. 

"I promise," Ben repeated. But as we all know, promises cannot always be kept.


	26. Dedication

This Story Is Dedicated To:

My best friends, Catherine, Ashley and Alex, who have always read my stories no matter how bad they are, and are always there for me. You guys are the best!

My awesome reviewers and readers, who have been with me since the beginning of they story. 

My characters, who, strange as it sound, acted out the story in my head, and make great friends when no one else is around.

My mom, who has been really great about my printing dozens of pages to bring to school and spending hours on the computer!

* * *

**AN: **I hope you enjoyed my story! I hope you're looking forward to the sequel, which I sort of have a plot for but I don't have a title yet, so be on the look out! Thank you all for reading this through to the end! 


End file.
